[rustythorn]

a couple of earlier posts above [#72 and #79] have tables with with configurations that imply the victron 230v systems can be used directly with USA 240v equipment. note to make this work it will require either a split-phase transformer or to use non-USA configured equipment. the only things that are using the 230v or 240v power is the mini-split, tank-less hot water heater and charging the van. all of these could be ordered from abroad, however, i think it will be easy to just have an USA setup for split-phase 120/240.

thus my current plan will be a parallel set of two 120v victron mutli+II units. this setup will output split phase 120/240 volts. in almost every way this is better than any other option i've looked at, however, it is slightly less efficient but in the summer time it will only require 1% more solar panels and in winter ~3% more solar to make up for the loss. furthermore, there is still a chance it can end up being the most efficient option. supposedly the setup for two units in parallel will not allow the system to go into standby mode nor is just shutting one unit an easy task, however, victron units are extremely programmable/configurable so there might be a way make adjustments. this setup is also the most powerful, however, i doubt i'll ever need its maximum capabilities.

the max charging rate for the transit is 11520 watts [48a * 240v]. in the table below is a row called 'max @ charging station' this assumes a 30 amp 240 vac input. this system can take that and output 12000 watts, however, this system could handle an input of 50 amp 240 vac and then output 16800 watts but that is way more power than i need.

back in post #79, i was pondering "i still need to decide between the high efficiency option or the high power option", my current plan is even more powerful while being both cheaper and lighter than that 'high power option'. the efficiency of new plan are also about the same as that 'high power option'.

	current plan
	2*3kmulti+II 120, 100/20, 150/70, 3k transformer	schneider 6848, victron 250/70	victron: RS 48/6000, mutiplus-II, 100/20	victron:easysolar3k, 3k multi+II, 100/20, 5k transformer	3kmulti+II 240, 3kmulti+II 120, 100/20, 150/70, 5k transformer	5kquatro-II 240, 3kmulti+II 120, 100/20, 150/70, 5k transformer
cost	3470	4240	3660	3710	3610	4410
weight, lbs	105.7	128.6	67.4	120.6	111.7	136
240VAC output, watts	4800	6800	5200	2400	2400	4000
120VAC output, watts	4800	6800	2400	2400	2400	2400
kwh/y 120VAC 50% duty	195.66	262.4496	59.88336	59.88336	59.88336	59.88336
+deployed solar 50% duty	199.86	266.6544	147.48336	68.64336	64.08816	64.08816
+ 240VAC 50% duty	199.86	376.1544	191.28336	116.82336	112.26816	142.92816
+ 240VAC 75% duty	199.86	411.1944	205.29936	140.91336	136.35816	182.34816
+ 240VAC 100% duty	199.86	485.6544	235.08336	165.00336	160.44816	221.76816
min 240VAC out	4800	6800	4800	4800	4800	6400
max @ charging station	**12000	6800	5300	**9600	**9600	**13600
*max 240 w/ 15A 120VAC	6600	6800	5200	6600	6600	8200
*max 240 w/ 30A 120VAC	*****8400	6800	5200	8400	8400	10000
*max 240 w/ 50A 120VAC	***12400	6800	5200	8400	8400	***12400
kwh/y@75%-most efficient		274.83624	68.9412	4.5552	0	45.99
watts wasted per day		752.976	188.88	12.48	0	126
extra solar needed to fix	34.87	150.5952	37.776	2.496	0	25.2
extra solar in winter [x3]	100	451.7856	113.328	7.488	0	75.6
*grid plug in	****5k transformer			**EV station adapter		***8-10k transformer

 

[rustythorn]

while do hope to be able to use a high SEER 240 vac mini-split, i have been looking into alternatives. the best back up plan thus far would be a 48 volt heat pump AC system and electric radiant floor heating. the AC system will likely use 20-30% more power than the mini-split but the heating could use twice as much. in the summer there should be enough sun to make up the difference but in the winter i could find myself short on power, however, i can zone the radiant heating, put in a curtain and just heat half of the van. this should result in similar power use. i don't plan on this being a regular occurrence but it does make this back up plan a feasible replacement of the mini-split. the benefits of the back up plan would be a lighter and smaller system which would be much easier to implement in the van.

another draw back to the electric radiant floor heating is how slow it will take to heat the van but the floor will be warm. i might consider some secondary heating options or even just open the convection oven and put a fan next to it for a few minutes. for extreme situations i could get by with minimal heat power by curtaining off the bed and using the electric mattress pad plus turning on the water tank/battery heaters. that should provide all the heat i would need even in the coldest temps for around 50-100 watts.

 

[rustythorn]

since i keep forgetting which is which i'll put down some info here on rigid foam insulation. the main types are EPS, XPS and ISO [aka PIR, polyiso], more info here, but basic R-values per inch are EPS: 4-5, XPS: 5-5.5 and ISO 5.5-6.5. price from low to high and density from low to high EPS, XPS and ISO.

EPS is the most stable, ISO is the most flame retardant, however, ISO has an odd feature that it preforms worse in colder weather < 50F.

in the areas that are flatish and i can fit 2"+ of insulation, i might put in two layers of 1" sheets. this will be a little more work and likely a little more expensive, however, it will make it easier to contour. i can then also put in a layer of the light cheap EPS against the van wall followed up with a layer of the ISO. this should help keep the ISO above 50F and thus preforming at its peak. if used 2" of ISO then i could get up to 13 r-value in the summer but only 9-10 in the winter. if i used 2" of EPS it would be 8-10 year round and XPS would be 10-11 year round, although XPS out gasses and loses performance over time.

if i use 1" of EPS facing outward and 1" of ISO inward then year round i should get 10-11.5. so it should be slightly better performance than 2" of XPS for about the same price and weight and less loss of performance over time. i could also use XPS instead of ESP for the outer layer and get about 11-12 year around till it degrades to 10-11.5 so i think EPS is a better choice.

another issue is availability: in my neck of the woods EPS and XPS are easy to get at a big box store, however, i will either need to pay for shipping or sweet talk a construction company for the ISO.

another possibility is putting in a layer between the two 1" sheets. i could get some foam with a foil lining or just tape some aluminum foil to it. having foil in this location will do very little for increased insulation, however, it will help with sound. i might even look into a sound damping caulking. they make some for sandwiching dry wall but i don't know if they make anything for foam. really any kind of sealant between the layers will help, as it will be a density change and result in refraction. it will also make the foam boards stronger. back in my sword fighting days. we would take two thin sheets of wood put glue between them and put them in brace to create a curve. after the glue dried not only did the wood retain its curved shape the overall shield was stronger. i'm not saying foam will behave the same but it should help.

 

[rustythorn]

back to alternatives to an mini-split for AC. i could also use evaporative cooling aka swamp cooler. this would be an even lighter, smaller, cheaper and easier to implement option and even more energy efficient than the mini-split, however, it does have a few down sides. it does not work in humid weather, it will make the inside of the van more humid and it requires water.

i don't plan on spending a lot of time outside arid climates in the summer but it would be good for me and places and people i want to see to do some traveling in less arid areas. unfortunately most of these places are extra crappy in the winter so if go with a minimal heating setup and a swamp cooler then i'll be less than happy most of the time in most non-arid areas. a couple of ideas that might improve things: normally it is not a good idea to mix AC with a swamp cooler, as they are doing opposing things. but it becomes more function if the two cooling types are in two separate zones. thus i could set up the partition behind the seats to only allow air in via a portable swamp cooler and turn on the van's AC in the front. that will dry and cool the air there. the swamp cooler will draw that air in thus allowing it to cool the air more. i'm not a 100% about this idea and i know it won't be the most energy efficient route but it should make living in the van tolerable in hot humid weather. instead of using the van's AC i could put a dehumidifier in the front area. the heat being put off by the dehumidifier will be mostly contained in the front and it will provide dry air for the swamp cooler to function, however, an dehumidifier will be yet another item that will take up space and weight but it might be required to dry out the van if i do run a swamp cooler a lot. the water accumulated by the dehumidifier could then be used in the swamp cooler.

another advantage of the swamp cooler is using it outside of the van. a semi partitioned area could be cooled a little with the swamp cooler [eg screened canopy]

 

[rustythorn]

possible solar panel arrangements:

in the beginning i was wanting to put as much solar on the roof as possible but since i also need to have some deployed solar i realized that was not needed. roughly 2/3s of the panels will be deployed so i will be setting up much more then what is on the roof. so if i decrease the size of the roof from crazy big to large but aerodynamic then it would just mean increasing the deployed panels by about 10%. thus instead of putting 1200-1500 watts on the roof i'm looking at about 1000 watts. the images below are using newpowa 250w panels. there are 4 on the roof and either 8 or 12 on the side. 12 panels [4+8] is 3000w and 16 [4+12] panels are 4000w. while it is possible to have 4000 watts, it will be too big to allow for optimal angles in the winter months and even in the spring and fall it will put the bottom of the panels very close to the ground which could result in partial shading. for the images below the 4000 side is at 45 degrees and the 3000 is at 35 degrees.

front 3000w

back 3000w

4000w front

4000w back

the lower panels are a different color because i was contemplating making them optional in the winter.

using 200w panels results in the same size, weight and cost. advantage of using 200w panels is easier setup and storage at the expense of additional work and time.

 

[rustythorn]

in the last post i talked about using 250w and 200w panels. i was hoping to use larger panels but i've not yet found any that would be a good fit. newer larger panels often have the best ratios w.r.t. watt/area and watt/weight, however, none of the dimensions will allow me to maximize my setup. while keeping the roof aerodynamic i can only fit two panels around 400 watts on the roof and would have some wasted space. another issue with larger panels is storage in the van and increased weight for setup. panels around 400 watts are about 45-50 pounds. with two 400 on the roof i would need to setup six panels to get around 3000 watts. with the 250 watt panels i only need to setup 8 to get 3000 watts and those panels are only 29 pounds.

if used two SCC i could have different panels on the roof vs the side but even with that flexibility i've not found a good application for larger panels. plus getting 12-16 of one type of panel makes it easier to get 'bulk' rates. a lot of the time i've seen the larger panels have a 10 panel minimum.

i've also considered using bifacial panels but only on the top. bifacial panels would not get much gain when the van is blocking the back side but on the roof they would preform well, however, again i've not found any bifacial's that have dimensions well suited for my roof goals. plus i would only need 2-3 three of them so again bulk ordering would be out.

 

[rustythorn]

another constraint on the choice of solar panels is the total VOC, ISC, VMP and IMP. the VOC and ISC need to be within the limits of the SCC and the VMP needs to be high enough to charge the battery bank. for the 3000w 12 newpowa 250w panels above they are in a 3P4S arrangement for a VOC: 109.1, ISC: 33.27, VMP: 95.32 and IMP: 31.53. which will work nicely with a victron SCC 150/50 and a 48v battery bank. furthermore the four panels on the roof by themselves still function with the SCC. also with the MC4 victron model it can take 30 amps for each MC4 connection. the roof panels are 11.09 ISC and the deployed panels are 22.18 ISC so i can leave the roof plugged into one MC4 and use the other MC4 for the side panels.

having a matching pattern between the roof and deployed panels allows for only using one SCC but if needed i could use two SCC if i thought a non-symmetric route was better. there are some advantages to two separate SCCs. for example if i can find a good roof setup that can use the victron 100/20 then it would use 1/3 the stand by power of the 150/50. using both 100/20 and 150/50 would be more efficient if i do mostly city parking or i move a lot but less efficient if i'm parked for long periods of time with the side panels setup

 

[rustythorn]

couple more thought on the solar array.

horizontal [ie changing the heading of the van] sun tracking can increase output by 30% add in vertical [ie tilting of the solar panels] tracking for another 10% for a total of 40% increase in power output. additionally reflectors can increase solar output by 20-40%, however, it will be near impossible to reach those maximums. the easiest way to increase gain from reflectors is to use micro-inverters. but those would be more expensive and less efficient. thus i will need to get a uniform spread of reflected light across all of the panels at the same time. doing that will be tricky and require large reflectors. so at best i'll just assume i'll only get 10-20% output gain from reflectors.

doing sun tracking manually will be a pain so i'll likely not use it unless i'm desperate for power or bored. but it is frustrating because the self parking option that comes with the van is basically the same the actions it would need to track the sun. just a little tweak to the programming but doing that would likely void the warranty. but even doing 2-3 manual adjustments per day should get me above 30% gain.

the combined effort of sun tracking and reflectors should get me around 50% increase in yield that means my 3000 watt array will be equivalent to 4500 watts. under ideal conditions [long sunny days] i could get 45 kwh per day or about 100 miles of driving.

 

[rustythorn]

more on chest freezers [and their conversion to fridges]

somewhere in this thread i assume i've said something like "regular off the shelf 120 VAC chest freezers are cheaper, lighter, easier to buy/fix/replace and have about the same efficiency as DC freezers/fridges."

that is still basically true, however, i've noticed a disturbing trend. first, the most efficient 120 VAC chest freezers available today are less efficient and more expensive than those of 10 years ago. the price is mostly a result of inflation and supply chain issue but efficiency is either an extreme supply chain issue or corporate greed. while there are some models on the energy star website with good numbers, those models are impossible to find. this means that chest freezers today are twice or more expensive and 15-20% less efficient. this prompted me to re-examine VDC freezers/fridges.

i'm using my 10 year old igloo 5.1 CF chest freezer as the gold standard. it has taken a lot of abuse and still works great. it has a rating of 172 kwh/y and it uses 55-60 kwh/y as a fridge. sundazer's 5.6 CF model is rated at 161 kwh/y but is 10 times the price of my igloo, heavier and larger. as a fridge it is rated at 61 kwh/y. so as a freezer it is a little more efficient but as a fridge it is about the same as my igloo, note, the sundazer is rated at 90F ambient but the igloo was only measured at 80F so that might make a difference. at any rate for the cost/weight/size it is no comparison to my igloo, however, right now a 5.1 120 VAC freezer is going to be 200 kwh/y and cost 300-400, whereas the sundazer is on sale for $1000 so it becomes a more tempting offer. another nice improvement; the sundazer and some other DC freezers now offers 48 VDC options. this means i can skip the inverter. if an inverter was on 24/7 and was only used for the fridge best case scenario would be about 50 kwy/h wasted so the 120 VAC is now up to 250 kwh/y and you have to pay for a good inverter. at this point using VDC freezer as starts to make sense, however, it is unlikely we will only be using the inverter for the freezer or even on 24/7 so math gets a little hazy.

for my case the VDC freezer/fridge would only make sense if it would mean i can turn off the inverter a substantial amount of time. that would mostly mean turning off the inverter at night or during blackout stormy weather. i would not be able to turn of the inverter if i'm using something like a mini-split for heating or cooling at night. i can foresee needing inverter powered cooling for many nights but i think i can avoid inverter powered heating for most cold nights. if i go to bed in a 65-70 degree van under covers with an electric blanket i should be fine, especially if i curtain off the bed area and maybe even throw in some radiant floor heat. of course if i do that then the fridge will be in a fairly cool part of the van so it would likely be fine without power thus, again, there would be no advantage of a VDC over an VAC option.

TL;DR it still does not seem that a VDC is better than a VAC for chest fridges.

lets also look using them as freezers instead of fridges. lets compare the sundazer 1.8 CF chest freezer to the Avanti [CF24Q0W] 2.5 CF. the Avanti uses 137 kwh/y while the sundazer uses 102 kwh/y, again the sundazer is measured at 90F while the avanti is likely not. even still 102*2.5/1.8 = 142 so the sundazer is less efficient. although i suspect the two would be very close if they went head to head. another issue with the sundazer is its increased weight and size; both much bigger than the Avanti even though you get less usable space. thus the sundazer would only make sense if i have the space and either need to save that little bit of power [35-40 kwh/y] or i need to run it without using the inverter, however the added insulation of the sundazer makes it useful to keep things cold if i lose power.

note i also looked at the sunfrost models and found similar results as the sundazer. i did not look at other models like the sunstar since they were only 12/24 volts but i suspect they would be similar.

 

[rustythorn]

chest freezer/fridge cont...

i should also make a note about thermostats for converting a chest freezer to a fridge. i have simple one on my igloo 5.1 CF but it draws about 1 watt, that becomes about 9 kwh/y. while not much it is still a waste. i'm looking for ways to use a mechanical thermostat instead of a digital one to eliminate that vampirec load. i assume the sundazer 5.6 fridge has its own thermostat so that is something in its favor.

if i do turn off the inverter at night and thus also turn off the fridge [if using VAC] then i will need an eternal thermostat which can retain its settings while off for a period of time, thus a mechanical option would be helpful in this case.

in the previous post i was comparing the efficiencies of VAC and VDC freezer/fridges and i was unsure if they were being tested the same way. it turns out that all fridges/freezers are tested at 90F testing conditions so the VDC are on par with the better VAC models.

in summary:

if you are only going to use an inverter to power a fridge/freezer then you will save power* by using a VDC fridge/freezer and they will be close in price to VAC model with an inverter.

if you already have/planning on an inverter and that inverter will be on most/all of the time for other things beyond the fridge/freezer then you will not save any power* with a VDC model and a VDC model will be heavier, larger and 3-10 times more expensive than a VAC model.

*all of the power savings associated with a VDC vs VAC is that a VDC does not require an inverter

 

[rustythorn]

since i dug up all the info might as well put it here, price reflects sale discounts

	energy star 120VAC units		sundazer		sunfrost
	kwh/y	volume CF	kwh/y	volume CF	kwh/y	volume CF
fridge part	66.6	7.1	61.32	5.6	one unit	8
freezer part	137	2.5	102.2	1.8	one unit	2
total	203.6	9.6	163.52	7.4	171.55	10
cost		700		1900		2500

so the 120 VAC units do have slightly more energy use for slightly less volume than the sunfrost, however, that setup has a larger freezer so if normalized they end up fairly close.

update: i did normalize the sunfrost [183 kwhy] and found it to be about 10% more efficient than the VAC units saving ~20 kwhy or ~50 watts/day. first the cost: i can get 50 more watts a day for about $10 in solar panels but the sunfrost will cost about $1800 more. the sunfrost is also almost twice as heavy and takes up 23% more space, plus it would be hard to find a place to put the sunfrost in the van

 

[rustythorn]

so i got a new thermostat control for my chest freezer, this one is analog. my old one was a Johnson Controls A419 and has been great for over 10 years but it draws
about a 1 watt which is 24 wh per day. the analog does not have that down side.

the new one a tempro 405 for $37

 

[rustythorn]

here is a 3000 watt solar set up using 15 200 watt bougeRV 9bb panels.
two different tilt positions

different angle and person for scale

 

[rustythorn]

reexamining going beyond 3000 watts, i have an idea that will also make buying the solar panels easier. this setup will require extending the top brace but i've thought of an easy way to make it flip out. here we have more of the 200 watt panels spread out wider on the side of the van. i could put 16 panels this way for 3200 watts plus what ever is on the roof. my original idea was to get 15 [5 for roof, 10 for side] for 3000 watts but if buy 16 this year [for tax reasons] then i'll have the 15 if i decide to go that route plus an extra one to power up a portable power station [more on why this is a good idea later] but if i decide to go the 16 on the side route i can get some panels for the roof later. using a victron SCC 150/60 will work for either the original 15 or for the new 16 setup. if i go with the new 16 setup then i'll need to get a victron SCC 100/20 for the roof

 

[rustythorn]

portable power station

i'm planning on having a portable power station with me for a few reasons

• emergency power/extreme conservation mode
• portable power
• boosting inverters without shore/grid power
• boosting cabin battery
• making use of existing equipment

i'm thinking of something around 1/2-2 kwh storage with 1000-1500 watt VAC output. these are small compact units so they won't take up too much space or weight.

if all systems on the van fail for some reason it will provide emergency power/extreme conservation options [eg light, communications, a couple of days using an electric blanket].

when i'm able i plan to 'borrow' grid power from various lonely/forgotten 120 VAC outlets i might find [ie hunt down, i've been doing this since i started making my own EVs 18 years ago with extremely limited range]. they are normally only 15 amps so 1800 watts of power at best. i might even find some 20 amp outlets. i'll use this power to help recharge the cabin/van battery. by combining the 1800 watts with my 4800 watt inverters i can charge the van at 6600 watts [7200 watts with 20 amp] for short periods. this is same speed as a typical public EV charging station. without access to grid power i could use the portal power station to do the same thing albeit for shorter periods, furthermore, although it is unlikely i could use the portal power station to boost the inverters for other reasons than charging [eg multiple appliances on at the same time].

if i don't get fords PRO-POWER option of a built in inverter, i will want to find some other way draw power from the van's battery. the easiest and legal way would be to have a 12 VDC to 48 VDC DC/DC unit on the van's 12 volt battery. i'm not sure how much power i can safely and continuously siphon but i think around 200 watts should be fine. most mid-size portal power stations can also put out that much 12 VDC power so could move the DC/DC converter from the van's 12v to the portal power station 12v thus providing power directly to the cabin's battery. i could also have another small solar panel on the portal power station so i could increase my solar intake in a complicated way.

 

[CaptainUnderpants]

I can't wait to see a video of your EV Van turning from "Inch Worm" into a "Butterfly". I realize that simplicity is always the best design. For this reason I would probably choose a mechanical style deployment of the panels. However, if mechanical screws could be replaced with electric motors a video of panels deploying would be a thing of beauty. Certainly any YouTube video of this transformation would get tons of views. Hopefully you are learning / or already know how to weld aluminum to build out a deployment substructure.

I must say that this level of mobile deployment would be at the absolute top of my pay grade. And then on top of that, integration into the vehicle EV system has me beat on anything I would attempt.

Do you have any goal on how many minutes it might take to deploy, or put away the panels. Probably not too important unless there is a wind storm on the horizon. Just curious about the mechanics of the process.

 

[rustythorn]

I can't wait to see a video of your EV Van turning from "Inch Worm" into a "Butterfly". I realize that simplicity is always the best design. For this reason I would probably choose a mechanical style deployment of the panels. However, if mechanical screws could be replaced with electric motors a video of panels deploying would be a thing of beauty. Certainly any YouTube video of this transformation would get tons of views. Hopefully you are learning / or already know how to weld aluminum to build out a deployment substructure.

I must say that this level of mobile deployment would be at the absolute top of my pay grade. And then on top of that, integration into the vehicle EV system has me beat on anything I would attempt.

Do you have any goal on how many minutes it might take to deploy, or put away the panels. Probably not too important unless there is a wind storm on the horizon. Just curious about the mechanics of the process.

yep that is why i'm going with a manual drag out of the van approach aka elbow grease. a powered/automatic system would be way heavy, way expensive and much less aerodynamic. plus you would still need to/want to give it a guiding hand and the chance it will need constant maintenance is very high. a middle ground would be a non-powered/automatic system with layered panels where you manual slide the panels into place. again this would be heavy, expensive and less aerodynamic, moreover, the amount of deployment work required would not be much less then my unload/load approach.

as for windy/rainy conditions, except for dire emergencies i can just wait for better weather before messing with the extra solar. no need for welding; since the deployed system will be stored in the van, a prebuilt frame large enough to house several panels would not fit very well inside. instead, i have worked out a simple and fast 'slide into place' method which also makes it easy to lock the system to prevent theft. that means, unfortunately, there will be no videos of panel deployment or details of how exactly everything fits together. no need to post instructions on how to steal my solar panels.

another nice feature with my approach is how modular it will be. not only are the panels interchangeable but i can deploy it row by row. depending on the final solution i'll have between two and four rows of panels. this means i can set up the upper row and stop if the weather turns or i'm getting too much ground shadow. same is true for tear down. if i have the whole array deployed and think the winds are/will be too strong i can not add/remove lower row while still deploying the entire support structure. this will make the relative strength of the system twice as strong while halving surface area for the wind to catch. thus essentially making the system four times stronger while still getting half the solar power.

ironically, part part of my work with the air force/space force is developing large solar array deployment systems in space for beaming power down to earth. it is a lot easier to have an automated system in low gravity, however, you have to watch out for conservation of momentum.

 

[CaptainUnderpants]

Modular makes sense. Take less panels with you when just going around town, or more when on a trip.

Since solar collection takes hours, speed of deployment really isn't necessary. It is just where my brain goes when I see all of those panels..., how they will all get packaged. I guess this will be a feat all in itself, even without a fancy NASA style deployment.

 

[Michael Ophus]

With the right roof rack 65 inch solar panels will fit, Those standard sized panels produce more watts. Some people complain that the roof is not wide enough.
There is a guy on this forum that has motorized solar panels that extend outward when the van is parked, They ride underneath the panels on the roof.

 

[rustythorn]

more on mini-splits:

interesting video of an outdoor condenser unit. couple of items that peaked my interest.

• the inner tubing has 'tar' pads for sound/vibration damping, i assume these are similar to the sound/vibration pads put on panels of the van? given amount bouncing the unit will get in a van i wonder if i should add more? i'll also take a look at guts of my chest freezer to see if it might need an upgrade.
• the pump is mounted on vibration pads so i'm not sure if addition vibration pads will be needed for the whole unit?
• the accumulator tank keeps the liquid refrigerant from getting into the pump and for these residential units this design is one of the reasons why the unit needs to be in an upright position and not mounted on its side [as would be nice for putting under the van], however, it seems it might be possible to bounce/splash some of the liquid into the pump? i don't know if this has happened before, there are a lot of travel trailers and motor homes with mini-splits so it must have come up by now? possibly if any liquid is splashed it could evaporate? to be safe i wonder if it would be wise to wait a bit before starting the mini-split if you just hit a big pothole or have been doing off-road travel?
• the video says the most common point of failure is voltage spikes to the unit and recommend a surge protector. given that a van application will be powering the unit from either inverters or shore power of unknown quality this might be a good idea.