Step one. Bought the van.
Hello Everybody, First post. I camp a lot in tents but after spending three days straight in a tent in the rain at Dolly Sods I swore I'd make a change. Here it is. Bought it Wednesday. Dro...
Forum Discussion
Thanks for the insulation tips. I'll have to think on those.
I'm been doing a lot of work on Hal without a break so overdue for a road trip. I hooked up my running water system along with portable AC unit, a microwave and a Engel 12 volt fridge. Beside the water pump, everything else was mounted temporarily for this trip.
First stop, Roger Waters and "The Wall" in Philadelphia.
Then off to the beach.
Cape Henlopen, Delaware.
Back on the road. Maryland House Rest Area, I-95.
I wonder what it is about White Ford Vans that make them seek out each others company?
Fort Frederick State Park Maryland Campground.
Hal has scared away all the other campers. Or maybe it was just me.
If you're traveling west of Hagerstown Maryland on I-70 I can highly recommend Fort Frederick State Park. It's only a mile off the interstate. The Fort was built during the French and Indian Wars.
It housed British prisoners during the Revolutionary War and Civil War Federal Troops were stationed nearby who mixed it up with Mosby's Raiders. The C&O Canal passes through the park along with the Western Maryland Rail Trail. And the campground which sits on the banks of the Potomac River sure isn't overused.
On to what I learned about living in the upgraded van. Having running water for the first time is a real sea change! I've been tent camping for years and using the van as a glorified tent since I bought it. Up till now this was my idea of running water.
I would go three or four days with this single 2-1/2" gallon plastic gas can as my sole drinking water source. For this first trip I just filled up one of the 5 gallon water cans figuring that would last a while. WRONG. I was amazed at how fast I emptied out that first 5 gallons. When you have an electric pump, 5 gallons is nothing. Luckily I learned this lesson while staying at a campground and not while boondocking. Easily refilled the water can at the closest spigot. After that I was more mindful of my water usage.
This was also the first time I've used a fridge. The Engel model was great. It doesn't use much electricity even though I had it at the coldest setting. The noise it makes when running was somewhere between a low hum and a purr. Not the least bit distracting. I first realized how neat it was to have a real fridge when I was shopping and found myself doing the "only buy two days worth of cold food since that's when the ice gives out" calculation. Had to remind myself that's no longer the case. After testing that the freezer section in the fridge would make ice cubes in regular trays, not just the tiny one it came with, I tested it with a six pack of Klondike bars. It keeps the bars solid but not by much. Have to eat them fast once you remove it from the fridge. It will also freeze a one liter squeeze bottle solid.
Next up the microwave. I've read where some people don't use theirs but that won't be the case for me. Used it on a Hungry Man dinner, microwave pizza and some leftovers from a restaurant. This will be a keeper. The microwave I bought is a small 700 watt unit and my inverter and house batteries had no problem keeping up with it. If I was worried about the power drain on the house batteries I would just idle the van while the microwave was running. I posted the other day about having installed the ScanGauge II on the dash. It shows me using about 0.66 gallons an hour while idling. With current prices that works out to about .04 cents a minute. To heat the microwave pizza I made last night would have only cost .20 in gas if needing to run the engine.
Someone posted that my van is starting to look like a spaceship. If you're going to have a spaceship you might as well get a robot. Say "Hello" to my version of R2-D2.
I'm going with the suggested name of "R2-BCool". Most of my camping is of the boondocking in the mountains variety but I wanted to try it at the beach where AC is a must. This AC unit is only for the times when I'm hooked to shore power. I used this for several days at the beach. One problem is the exhaust hose radiates a lot of heat. I'm sure wrapping it in Reflectix would help. But a bigger problem is that all the air it exhausts is being drawn from within the living space. Then that air is being replaced with outside air. The space inside the van never gets real cold. It only really cools you down if it's blowing the cold air it makes directly at you. It's best use was when I was sleeping since I'm not moving around much. It did help lower the humidity so it's better than nothing.
A more efficient arrangement would be to have a separate hose for outside air that is drawn into the unit then used to carry the heat away from the coils and exhausted back outside. Then the cold air in the van would be continually recycled and made cooler still.
I'll have to open it up and see if I can modifying it.
I do see one problem with all my new conveniences. When the van was like a tent with a minimum of comforts it's easy to get going in the morning. Now it's a lot easier to just lay there and listen to the radio or get something to eat out of the fridge. I can definitely see a downside to all this.
I'm been doing a lot of work on Hal without a break so overdue for a road trip. I hooked up my running water system along with portable AC unit, a microwave and a Engel 12 volt fridge. Beside the water pump, everything else was mounted temporarily for this trip.
First stop, Roger Waters and "The Wall" in Philadelphia.
Then off to the beach.
Cape Henlopen, Delaware.
Back on the road. Maryland House Rest Area, I-95.
I wonder what it is about White Ford Vans that make them seek out each others company?
Fort Frederick State Park Maryland Campground.
Hal has scared away all the other campers. Or maybe it was just me.
If you're traveling west of Hagerstown Maryland on I-70 I can highly recommend Fort Frederick State Park. It's only a mile off the interstate. The Fort was built during the French and Indian Wars.
It housed British prisoners during the Revolutionary War and Civil War Federal Troops were stationed nearby who mixed it up with Mosby's Raiders. The C&O Canal passes through the park along with the Western Maryland Rail Trail. And the campground which sits on the banks of the Potomac River sure isn't overused.
On to what I learned about living in the upgraded van. Having running water for the first time is a real sea change! I've been tent camping for years and using the van as a glorified tent since I bought it. Up till now this was my idea of running water.
I would go three or four days with this single 2-1/2" gallon plastic gas can as my sole drinking water source. For this first trip I just filled up one of the 5 gallon water cans figuring that would last a while. WRONG. I was amazed at how fast I emptied out that first 5 gallons. When you have an electric pump, 5 gallons is nothing. Luckily I learned this lesson while staying at a campground and not while boondocking. Easily refilled the water can at the closest spigot. After that I was more mindful of my water usage.
This was also the first time I've used a fridge. The Engel model was great. It doesn't use much electricity even though I had it at the coldest setting. The noise it makes when running was somewhere between a low hum and a purr. Not the least bit distracting. I first realized how neat it was to have a real fridge when I was shopping and found myself doing the "only buy two days worth of cold food since that's when the ice gives out" calculation. Had to remind myself that's no longer the case. After testing that the freezer section in the fridge would make ice cubes in regular trays, not just the tiny one it came with, I tested it with a six pack of Klondike bars. It keeps the bars solid but not by much. Have to eat them fast once you remove it from the fridge. It will also freeze a one liter squeeze bottle solid.
Next up the microwave. I've read where some people don't use theirs but that won't be the case for me. Used it on a Hungry Man dinner, microwave pizza and some leftovers from a restaurant. This will be a keeper. The microwave I bought is a small 700 watt unit and my inverter and house batteries had no problem keeping up with it. If I was worried about the power drain on the house batteries I would just idle the van while the microwave was running. I posted the other day about having installed the ScanGauge II on the dash. It shows me using about 0.66 gallons an hour while idling. With current prices that works out to about .04 cents a minute. To heat the microwave pizza I made last night would have only cost .20 in gas if needing to run the engine.
Someone posted that my van is starting to look like a spaceship. If you're going to have a spaceship you might as well get a robot. Say "Hello" to my version of R2-D2.
I'm going with the suggested name of "R2-BCool". Most of my camping is of the boondocking in the mountains variety but I wanted to try it at the beach where AC is a must. This AC unit is only for the times when I'm hooked to shore power. I used this for several days at the beach. One problem is the exhaust hose radiates a lot of heat. I'm sure wrapping it in Reflectix would help. But a bigger problem is that all the air it exhausts is being drawn from within the living space. Then that air is being replaced with outside air. The space inside the van never gets real cold. It only really cools you down if it's blowing the cold air it makes directly at you. It's best use was when I was sleeping since I'm not moving around much. It did help lower the humidity so it's better than nothing.
A more efficient arrangement would be to have a separate hose for outside air that is drawn into the unit then used to carry the heat away from the coils and exhausted back outside. Then the cold air in the van would be continually recycled and made cooler still.
I'll have to open it up and see if I can modifying it.
I do see one problem with all my new conveniences. When the van was like a tent with a minimum of comforts it's easy to get going in the morning. Now it's a lot easier to just lay there and listen to the radio or get something to eat out of the fridge. I can definitely see a downside to all this.
