Step one. Bought the van.

[WVvan]

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.
Drove it home today.
1999 Ford E-250, 6 cylinder, 125K miles.
Was a home builders work van. Some slight surface rust.
Cargo doors a bit dinged up.
I'm planning on doing a full conversion. Most of the work I'll do myself but some will be beyond my abilities. I'm giving myself a deadline of no later than spring. Van won't fit into my small garage so that will affect how/when I can work on it.

I've been reading this and other conversion forums for a few weeks. It's been a huge help so far. Learned quite a lot already but there's still a lot I don't know. Counting on the pros who frequent this forum for some advice.

Advice like: The previous owner drilled some 3/4 inch holes in the floor for bolted down shelving. Whats the best way to cover these holes from underneath? Should I treat the metal edges of the holes before I start?

Thanks for your time, now and in the future.
WVvan

P.S. I'm thinking of call it "HAL the Van".
Why HAL? Well since my name is Dave....

Dave Bowman: Open the pod bay doors, HAL.
HAL: I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that.

[landyacht318]

Since I have a very similar system to what you are planning I though I'd share some of my experiences, and things learned the hard way along the way.

I see you've listed 14 awg wire from your 15 amp charger to your six volts. What is the distance of that circuit?

I am using about 2 feet of 10 awg on my 25 amp charger, before it reaches the 2 awg cable of the Perko battery switch.

This 10 awg cable gets hot with 25 amps and is still very warm when the charge tapers to 14 amps. Consider fatter cables from charger to batteries. I love having a battery monitor.

One thing to consider is that if your are parked in the sun, it's possible your battery charger will sense this solar voltage and not charge at anywhere near it's 15 amp rating.

If I want 25 amps out of my Schumacher "smart" charger in daytime, I need to pull the fuse on the solar panel. Together in sunlight, the output is usually less than just the solar itself.

Even though you have all week to recharge your 6 volts, you might find occasions where you wish you had more amps available. I know it's happened to me, and I have a 25 amp charger. I don't see how going over 15 amps on the charger complicates things. Your 120 volt system won't be taxed powering that charger or a significantly larger one, not even close, and all you need to do is fatten up the wires and fuse to the batteries.

My only provisions for 120 volt systems is a surge protector power strip and an extension cord. I rarely have anything plugged into the 800 watt inverter anymore, but If I need the battery charger, I plug that, my fridge and my computer into the power strip and connect to the grid. Maybe a dozen times a year. I don't really keep the charger mounted. Just have a quick connection to the Perko switch, and a couple flat bungees to hold it in place while it is in use.

My batteries also seem to like being occasionally blasted with a shorter duration higher amperage blast from the wall charger other than the relatively light amperage of the solar. Yours might too.

I find the output of my 130 amp alternator to be disappointing. If my monitor claims 60% SOC it will say the alternator at first is outputting 65+ amps. Within 5 minutes this number has fallen to around 12 amps. After an hour it is down to 7 or 8amps and would take 7+ hours of driving to bring the batteries back to 100%. I have shortened and thickened the cables from the alternator to the batteries, and blown a fusible link in the process, but have not significantly improved alternator output.

Your vehicle's charging system might be better or worse. Keep in mind it is not deigned to charge deep cycle batteries, just quickly replace the shallow quick discharge of starting the engine.

Depending on how your battery isolator operates, and/or is wired, you might be using your house batteries in addition to the starting battery when turning the key to start.

Once before I had solar, I'd forgotten to isolate the engine battery, and all 3 house batteries barely had enough juice to start the engine, and the ammeter on the dash swung up higher than I'd ever seen it, then swung flat. The newly rebuilt alternator's brushes had blew off the armature( I did not know this at the time) and I was stuck in Baja with 3 dead batteries,an inoperable charging system, miles from the nearest town with the warranty on the alternator redeemable north of the border.

After fully charging the house batteries from the grid, I was gonna make a run for the border. About 10 miles into the trip over washboarded road the brushes re connected and it started charging again.

After your first startup with depleted 6volt house batteries, check your alternator charging voltages, because the weakest link in your vehicles charging system will be exposed then. With a blown fusible link, or inline fuse, or a fried diode in the alternator and you'll be calling AAA on your first outting.

And for some reason, when My engine is running, the output of my solar panel usually falls to the 0.1 to 0.2 amp area, instead of adding to the alternator output, the controller seems to sense this output goes open circuit. Not always but usually.

Good luck, and have fun.

[bananadanna]

I'd try to make a provision for shore power charging on the road. Redundancy is a good thing. My integrated Prosine inverter/charger will start charging at around 100a. It uses a temp sensor on the battery bank to help max out the charging rate. Useful for quickly feeding a kw-hr into a bank w/o waiting around too long.

Many of us portapotty partisans store it under a shelf and bring it out to an aisle for use. I think my size 14 feet take more floor space than the potty itself.

Not an unreasonable idea to have a dedicated-toilet spot planned for. If you found the potty or equally good lined-bucket not to your preferences you could give up some nonessential space like a storage area. I'd still start with the noninstalled since its cheap and easy to care for.

[WVvan]

Hey VernM,
I checked 3M sealants. I don't think this is what you meant:
http://solutions.3mindia.co.in/wps/portal/3M/en_IN/3M-ESPE-Asia/dental-professionals/products/catego...
Just kidding.

Looks like these are the top candidates:
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Car/Care/Products/Product-Catalog/Pages/?nid=69CBWNSM1Pg...
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/3MAutomotive/Aftermarket/Products/Product-Catalog/?PC_7_...
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/3MAutomotive/Aftermarket/Products/Product-Catalog/?PC_7_...


Hey Pepperoni,
I didn't know about the hole plugs. Live and learn. In this case there was also a rust issue so I did the grinder->wire brush->rust preventer->bondo->primer->paint route.
I've seen the toilet seat + plastic combo. That might be a little too basic for me.


Hey Landyacht318,
I know the 15 amp charger will take a while but since I'm usually a weekend camper it will have most of the week to recharge the batteries. That should be enough time. Also keeping the van as a 15 amp system simplifies things.
The batteries will be stored in a vented box directly behind the drivers seat.

Here's the reason for the welding.
After removing the rear cargo mat and padding found this underneath.
There are four large bolts that secure the van to the under frame.
The rearmost set of bolts, a couple of feet from the back doors, shows bubbling under the paint.
Like this:



After grinding off the paint and chipping at the rust underneath you have this:


Way too much for a simple Bondo patch.

[landyacht318]

WVvan, Nice wiring diagram!

The only thing I'd recommend is a higher amperage charger.

I'm running 2 12 volts, but when I do need to plug in and use a charger, my 25 amp charger takes too long, because it only puts out 25 amps in the beginning.

If a 15 amp charger tapered the amps at the same rate, it will take forever to bring your twin 6 volts back up past 85%.

I used to have 3 12 volts and would use the 130 watt solar in the coastal desert to charge all 3. The monitor would say 100% daily, but the day after I'd hit them with 25 amps they'd hold more voltage overnight.

Now I have only the 2 remaining in parallel I can tell that 230 A/his a better match with my 130 watt panel.

I've found I don't need 345 a/h of batteries, and when I can afford it, I'm getting 2 31DC36 Crown 12 volts @ 140 A/h a piece and only charging one at a time with the solar or alternator and solar combo, and keeping the other one isolated, and switching the load/charge battery every other day or 2 via my boat battery 1,2,Both,Off switch.

I have not used a "starting battery" in years, the Everstart dual purpose quasi deep cycles have enough CCA to crank my V8. In fact my engine compartment battery tray has been empty for well over a year now. My house batteries are #2, and I just leave the Perko switch to #2.

Where are you putting the 6 volts?

Is that what the welder is doing?

[Pepperoni]

Plug the holes with hole plugs. Do a search for "3/4 hole plugs". (no kidding) Example here: hole plugs

You don't need to do much.

I built a bed from 2x8 and 1/2 inch ply. Size to fit available mattress. 1x3 inside 3 inches below the top edge holds plywood in place and leaves a 2 inch lip to hold mattress, too. good storage under.

Everthing else is trim. Cheap "blue tarp makes awning.

Custom toilet seat from Cabela's fits a plastic bucket. (line w/ plastic bag for easy clean up)

Get a hibachi or cheap gril. Keep charcoal dry and fresh in plastic bucket and cap.

Carry drinkng water by gallon, up to 5 gal.

Use paper plates.

Call me when the fish are running.

:W

[VernM]

For sealing holes, especially when drilling them in the roof, 3M makes a great sealant that is a little expensive but worth it. It's been long enough since I put the two solar panels on my van that I forget the product info. Do a search with 3M for automotive projects and look for the sealant they prescribe for between fenders and body, etc.

Good luck.

[WVvan]

Hal the Van is at the shop tonight getting some welding work done on a couple of places that need more than what I can do with Bondo.
Anyway I have a new question. I'm drawing up my van layout and am leaving the right rear corner (passenger side) of the van free for a possible toilet. I'm not sure if I'll add one but want to leave enough space for a future installation. This would be free standing, not an enclosure. Also not sure of what type I'd go with (Porta, blackwater).
What is the minimum space (width) I should leave free?
Thanks.

On a separate note, here is the wiring scheme:


Since must of my camping is boondocking I have fairly simple shore power set-up. Unplug the two 120 AC outlets from the inverter and plug them into shore power. Since the inverter will be the biggest power draw I should be able to run the 12V DC side from the solar panel. Use the charger for when I get home.

[RIA]

J Weld is great. Grind smooth then prime & paint to protect. My van is also about 90% complete. My problem is that I can't stop going back & making modifications. Need to focus. I dream up my projects while driving, my second addiction. Interesting thing is that the more my son's friends marvel at all the******I have done the cooler he thinks it is.

[OldBob]

My favorite way to fill a bolt hole is with a bolt, if the back side is accessable to tighten the nut. A carriage bolt has a gently rounded head which usually is visually acceptable, but if I need a nearly flush finish I grind it down or use a flat head machine screw. The bolt can, and probably should. be smaller than the hole to keep the head small. In either case, use sealant to waterproof the joint.

[RVSKIER]

For patching the hole I might use fiberglass cloth on the top and bottom , drill some smaller holes around the big hole.

And if you name the Van Hal, make sure you don't lie to the computer.......

[jimany]

I'm not an expert, but I'd fill any hole in anything that won't be visible with JB Weld.

[hoosiermark]

If you decide to go with a fiberglass raised roof, you may want to talk to mobility van convertors. I found one in the area that would install a fiberglass roof for a price much cheaper then Sportsmobile. (I have been to Sportmobile in Indiana and know the do good work) The place I talked to converted vans for wheel chair use and had some helpful tips also.

[bananadanna]

Welcome and enjoy the DIY experience.

Since you're used to tent camping I'd think your deadline is optional since you'll be able to continue camping during most stages of your project:)

A 1999 van is old enough that you might justify some fancier items like inverters and electronics if you think they'll be reused in you next van.

It sure is fun to build something!

[WVvan]

Thanks for all the replies.
To answer a couple of questions. There will be a camper top installed.
I'm going for the "Full Monty", aka Sportsmobile Penthouse Pop-up.
That's one reason I went with the older van so I could afford the Penthouse.
I'd use the current floor holes but they don't line up with my designs.
Would rather fix the holes than change what I envision.

[david_42]

Why not use the holes to anchor your modifications? If there's any rust, just brush the edges with a rust converter.