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.
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.
Backup Cameras - continued
This is the backup camera. On the back is a threaded tube that the wires pass through and is used to secure the camera. I cut a piece of rubber for a backing against the penthouse top.
Raise the top before drilling the mounting hole for the camera. Notice the end of the wire hanging below the camera. It has a small diameter connector so the wires can be passed through the mounting hole for the camera. The connector that mates with this has the rca video plug and power plug.
This is the looking back camera. Instead of a small connector it has a rca video plug and a power plug on the end of it's wires. Since a hole is needed to pass these wires through the top I cut off the bulky ends.
Then the hole doesn't have to be so large.
Going to use #8 machine screws to hold the camera in place. Enlarge the holes in the base for them.
Had some company that day.
Use silicone to seal up the holes. These holes only go through fiberglass and not through the internal support plywood like the holes for the solar panel bolts. Because of that I don't have to be as careful.
How it looks. In retrospect I should have moved the looking back camera towards the front about a inch. Wasn't going to put more holes in the top so it stays where it is.
Now to get the wiring out to the cameras.
Just like I did with the solar panel wiring, remove the screws that attach the canvas to the top. I can pass the wires through the gap but to screw the canvas back in place these wires have to be flexible enough so they can be folded back upon themselves with the canvas in the middle. Because of that I'm using a different type of coax cable for this part of the run. See if you can catch my mistake. One coax cable for each of the cameras. The red and black wires provide positive power. One wire to each camera.
To get the canvas into it's original position I had to slide it back in place from the outside.
Put the screws back that hold the canvas in place. Looks good.
When starting to wire up the cameras I quickly realized my mistake. I forgot a ground wire. D'Oh! For some reason there's no pictures of me opening up the canvas top again and running a new ground wire.
Use the same nylon zip tie anchors that I used with the solar panel cables to route the wiring under the penthouse top.
Join the two coax cables that run out to the cameras to the one cable that runs to the front of the van.
It's not real clear in the above picture but the forgotten (red) ground wire comes off of the penthouse installation bolt that's underneath the plier's handle.
All the new wires and cables fit within the plastic conduit that was already in this corner from the original installation of the penthouse top.
continued -
This is the backup camera. On the back is a threaded tube that the wires pass through and is used to secure the camera. I cut a piece of rubber for a backing against the penthouse top.
Raise the top before drilling the mounting hole for the camera. Notice the end of the wire hanging below the camera. It has a small diameter connector so the wires can be passed through the mounting hole for the camera. The connector that mates with this has the rca video plug and power plug.
This is the looking back camera. Instead of a small connector it has a rca video plug and a power plug on the end of it's wires. Since a hole is needed to pass these wires through the top I cut off the bulky ends.
Then the hole doesn't have to be so large.
Going to use #8 machine screws to hold the camera in place. Enlarge the holes in the base for them.
Had some company that day.
Use silicone to seal up the holes. These holes only go through fiberglass and not through the internal support plywood like the holes for the solar panel bolts. Because of that I don't have to be as careful.
How it looks. In retrospect I should have moved the looking back camera towards the front about a inch. Wasn't going to put more holes in the top so it stays where it is.
Now to get the wiring out to the cameras.
Just like I did with the solar panel wiring, remove the screws that attach the canvas to the top. I can pass the wires through the gap but to screw the canvas back in place these wires have to be flexible enough so they can be folded back upon themselves with the canvas in the middle. Because of that I'm using a different type of coax cable for this part of the run. See if you can catch my mistake. One coax cable for each of the cameras. The red and black wires provide positive power. One wire to each camera.
To get the canvas into it's original position I had to slide it back in place from the outside.
Put the screws back that hold the canvas in place. Looks good.
When starting to wire up the cameras I quickly realized my mistake. I forgot a ground wire. D'Oh! For some reason there's no pictures of me opening up the canvas top again and running a new ground wire.
Use the same nylon zip tie anchors that I used with the solar panel cables to route the wiring under the penthouse top.
Join the two coax cables that run out to the cameras to the one cable that runs to the front of the van.
It's not real clear in the above picture but the forgotten (red) ground wire comes off of the penthouse installation bolt that's underneath the plier's handle.
All the new wires and cables fit within the plastic conduit that was already in this corner from the original installation of the penthouse top.
continued -
Backup Cameras
Once I had the front trim pieces removed for the installation of the Disco Lights figured might as well start work on a few other projects that had been rattling around in my brain but never got around to. One of those is the backup cameras.
This will require the removal of the front headliner. Had previously installed a overhead storage shelf that I bought from J.C. Whitney. In the picture I've removed the shelf but the end brackets are still in place. Remove them next.
Remove the plastic trim pieces on both sides of the windshield. They just pop off.
Running along the back edge of the headliner are five of these plastic bolts with the large heads. I'm sure they have an official name but don't know what it is.
Slide a screwdriver between the top of the van and the headliner and carefully work the plastic bolts out.
After remove the bolts the only thing holding the headliner up is the rubber edging above the doors on each side. Free up one edge and lower the headliner.
The wire that runs to the overhead light is tacked to the headliner with some type of glue.
The wire with glue comes free from the headliner without too much force.
This is the overhead light fixture. I'd previously converted it to LEDs.
The fixture easily pops out of the headliner. Then unplugs from the wire.
The headliner is now free.
It wasn't that sunny of a day but the exposed metal top was surprising warm on the inside.
Notice the screws sticking down from the front edge of the penthouse top. Got stuck by these more than once.
I'd never had the headliner off before now. First thing is to insulate it. Use my trusty double-sided tape then Reflectix.
Watch out for those screws.
I want to install two cameras on the back of the van. One will be for backing up while the other will act as a secondary rear view mirror. Once the fridge is installed I'll lose half the view through the back doors. Since I'm running the wiring for the backup camera adding a second camera isn't that much extra work.
I used the 12 volt benchtop power supply from the previous posting to test that the two cameras could share a video signal cable since they wouldn't both be on at the same time. Used this coax ethernet cable I had laying around as the video cable.
Cut the BNC connectors from both ends and add a RCA plug to one end.
Unscrew the cloth trim from along the edge of the penthouse and fold it back. Run the coax cable from the front of the van through a new hole drilled in the roof along side the plywood piece that holds down the penthouse canvas. I'm using silver duct tape, not duck tape, to keep the coax in place.
Run the cable to the right (passenger side) rear corner of the penthouse top.
continued -
Once I had the front trim pieces removed for the installation of the Disco Lights figured might as well start work on a few other projects that had been rattling around in my brain but never got around to. One of those is the backup cameras.
This will require the removal of the front headliner. Had previously installed a overhead storage shelf that I bought from J.C. Whitney. In the picture I've removed the shelf but the end brackets are still in place. Remove them next.
Remove the plastic trim pieces on both sides of the windshield. They just pop off.
Running along the back edge of the headliner are five of these plastic bolts with the large heads. I'm sure they have an official name but don't know what it is.
Slide a screwdriver between the top of the van and the headliner and carefully work the plastic bolts out.
After remove the bolts the only thing holding the headliner up is the rubber edging above the doors on each side. Free up one edge and lower the headliner.
The wire that runs to the overhead light is tacked to the headliner with some type of glue.
The wire with glue comes free from the headliner without too much force.
This is the overhead light fixture. I'd previously converted it to LEDs.
The fixture easily pops out of the headliner. Then unplugs from the wire.
The headliner is now free.
It wasn't that sunny of a day but the exposed metal top was surprising warm on the inside.
Notice the screws sticking down from the front edge of the penthouse top. Got stuck by these more than once.
I'd never had the headliner off before now. First thing is to insulate it. Use my trusty double-sided tape then Reflectix.
Watch out for those screws.
I want to install two cameras on the back of the van. One will be for backing up while the other will act as a secondary rear view mirror. Once the fridge is installed I'll lose half the view through the back doors. Since I'm running the wiring for the backup camera adding a second camera isn't that much extra work.
I used the 12 volt benchtop power supply from the previous posting to test that the two cameras could share a video signal cable since they wouldn't both be on at the same time. Used this coax ethernet cable I had laying around as the video cable.
Cut the BNC connectors from both ends and add a RCA plug to one end.
Unscrew the cloth trim from along the edge of the penthouse and fold it back. Run the coax cable from the front of the van through a new hole drilled in the roof along side the plywood piece that holds down the penthouse canvas. I'm using silver duct tape, not duck tape, to keep the coax in place.
Run the cable to the right (passenger side) rear corner of the penthouse top.
continued -
Disco Lights
After finishing up with the solar panels I wanted the next project to just be for fun so decided to add a Red-Green-Blue LED strip. It has a controller that allows different effects so I'm calling them Disco Lights. And just to clear this up early on, Yes I lived through the Disco Era and had a blast. Owned a bunch of polyester shirts with the big pointed collars that you could never quite get the sweat smell out of after spending the night dancing.
Before installing the lights I'll have to do some disassembly to the penthouse trim. This is the trim piece that covers the front edge of the roof cut.
Here are the two lower brackets for the penthouse roof front hold down clamps. To allow for the bolts that stick up the top trim piece has extra room underneath it.
This is the bottom trim piece. It also has to be removed. It's held in place by a series of screws.
And the bolts for the lower brackets.
Here's the trim pieces now out of the way.
How it looks with the bottom trim piece removed.
The LEDs come as a flexible strip on a roll. The small white box is the LED controller. Runs off 12 volts. It also comes with an infrared remote. These cost about $15 on ebay.
The plug on the controller is this standard size female barrel connector. Search through old wall-wart transformers and you should find a match. Cut off the plug.
This and the next several projects are all electrical and for testing purposes I needed a 12 volt benchtop power supply. Here's what I used. It's the power supply from a old computer. There are several tutorials on the internet for converting most any computer power supply into a benchtop supply like this. It's fairly easy and besides costing next to nothing these types of power supplies can crank out a lot of well regulated watts. I wondered what use negative 12 volts is. Turns out going from +12 to -12 gives 24 volts.
Mount the controller on what used to be the top of the roof. There is room under the top trim piece for the controller.
Need to run wires up to the controller from the main fuse panel. Drill a hole and add a grommet for the wiring through the roof near the front left corner of the penthouse reinforcement metal work.
Install the wiring to the controller and add a on/off switch to the bottom trim piece.
To protect the LED strip I'm using a 1/2" square "Impact-resistant Polycarbonate Square Tube" that I bought from McMaster-Carr. The strip easily slips inside the tube.
The flexible LED strip can be safely cut every so many inches at one of these marks.
I cut the LED strip so it runs the length of the metal ledge for the penthouse top.
To hold the square tube in place I used these rare earth magnets secured to the tube with VHB tape.
Since the tube is laying on the metal ledge I only had to add one magnet every foot. The magnet holds the tube to the inside edge.
The magnets are strong enough to cause the square tube to snap back in place if pulled away and released.
Plug the light strip into the controller.
Give it a test.
Not the same as a lighted dance floor but still fun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LFnpZ6VUCs&feature=youtu.be
I need to add a soundtrack to the video. Maybe a little Donna Summers.
After finishing up with the solar panels I wanted the next project to just be for fun so decided to add a Red-Green-Blue LED strip. It has a controller that allows different effects so I'm calling them Disco Lights. And just to clear this up early on, Yes I lived through the Disco Era and had a blast. Owned a bunch of polyester shirts with the big pointed collars that you could never quite get the sweat smell out of after spending the night dancing.
Before installing the lights I'll have to do some disassembly to the penthouse trim. This is the trim piece that covers the front edge of the roof cut.
Here are the two lower brackets for the penthouse roof front hold down clamps. To allow for the bolts that stick up the top trim piece has extra room underneath it.
This is the bottom trim piece. It also has to be removed. It's held in place by a series of screws.
And the bolts for the lower brackets.
Here's the trim pieces now out of the way.
How it looks with the bottom trim piece removed.
The LEDs come as a flexible strip on a roll. The small white box is the LED controller. Runs off 12 volts. It also comes with an infrared remote. These cost about $15 on ebay.
The plug on the controller is this standard size female barrel connector. Search through old wall-wart transformers and you should find a match. Cut off the plug.
This and the next several projects are all electrical and for testing purposes I needed a 12 volt benchtop power supply. Here's what I used. It's the power supply from a old computer. There are several tutorials on the internet for converting most any computer power supply into a benchtop supply like this. It's fairly easy and besides costing next to nothing these types of power supplies can crank out a lot of well regulated watts. I wondered what use negative 12 volts is. Turns out going from +12 to -12 gives 24 volts.
Mount the controller on what used to be the top of the roof. There is room under the top trim piece for the controller.
Need to run wires up to the controller from the main fuse panel. Drill a hole and add a grommet for the wiring through the roof near the front left corner of the penthouse reinforcement metal work.
Install the wiring to the controller and add a on/off switch to the bottom trim piece.
To protect the LED strip I'm using a 1/2" square "Impact-resistant Polycarbonate Square Tube" that I bought from McMaster-Carr. The strip easily slips inside the tube.
The flexible LED strip can be safely cut every so many inches at one of these marks.
I cut the LED strip so it runs the length of the metal ledge for the penthouse top.
To hold the square tube in place I used these rare earth magnets secured to the tube with VHB tape.
Since the tube is laying on the metal ledge I only had to add one magnet every foot. The magnet holds the tube to the inside edge.
The magnets are strong enough to cause the square tube to snap back in place if pulled away and released.
Plug the light strip into the controller.
Give it a test.
Not the same as a lighted dance floor but still fun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LFnpZ6VUCs&feature=youtu.be
I need to add a soundtrack to the video. Maybe a little Donna Summers.
Electrical Outlets
As the electrical system has progressed I thought it was time to add a 110 outlet. This is the front panel from the sofa-bed laying face down. Found what I thought was a good place to mount the electrical box. There are several types of electrical boxes but used one that was on hand.
Create the opening for the box by drill four holes from the back with a spade bit.
Formica covers the front side of the board. To reduce the possibility of splintering the finish I'd stop the drilling from behind after the spade bit center emerges and flip the board over and finish the hole from the front.
Use a jig saw to complete the opening.
Check that the cover plate will hide any sins in the cutting of the opening.
To mount the box I added a couple wood pieces on each side then bent a backing metal strap such that the front of the box was flush. Then bolt the box to the strap.
For the wiring I used a heavy duty power cord. This is the type of cord that has the standard three prong female end that matches most every computer power supply. Work with computers long enough and you'll end up with a bunch of these.
Bolt the front of the sofa-bed in place.
Plug the new outlet into the main power strip.
It's because of this outlet that I went with using a power strip instead of hard wiring all the outlets into a junction box. Since I have occasion to disassemble the sofa-bed I'd need a way to disconnect this outlet so the power strip made more sense.
The weather has been heating up lately so I wanted to use a fan in the van. Need to install a 12 volt outlet for that. Here's one I'd used before. Notice it has a plug so it too can be disconnected.
Like the new 110 outlet, wire it to the inside front of the sofa-bed.
Mount it so the outlets are horizontal.
Wire it to the fuse panel and ready to go. For a 12 volt fan I can highly recommend a Endless Breeze from Fan-Tasic. Does a great job without draining the battery.
As the electrical system has progressed I thought it was time to add a 110 outlet. This is the front panel from the sofa-bed laying face down. Found what I thought was a good place to mount the electrical box. There are several types of electrical boxes but used one that was on hand.
Create the opening for the box by drill four holes from the back with a spade bit.
Formica covers the front side of the board. To reduce the possibility of splintering the finish I'd stop the drilling from behind after the spade bit center emerges and flip the board over and finish the hole from the front.
Use a jig saw to complete the opening.
Check that the cover plate will hide any sins in the cutting of the opening.
To mount the box I added a couple wood pieces on each side then bent a backing metal strap such that the front of the box was flush. Then bolt the box to the strap.
For the wiring I used a heavy duty power cord. This is the type of cord that has the standard three prong female end that matches most every computer power supply. Work with computers long enough and you'll end up with a bunch of these.
Bolt the front of the sofa-bed in place.
Plug the new outlet into the main power strip.
It's because of this outlet that I went with using a power strip instead of hard wiring all the outlets into a junction box. Since I have occasion to disassemble the sofa-bed I'd need a way to disconnect this outlet so the power strip made more sense.
The weather has been heating up lately so I wanted to use a fan in the van. Need to install a 12 volt outlet for that. Here's one I'd used before. Notice it has a plug so it too can be disconnected.
Like the new 110 outlet, wire it to the inside front of the sofa-bed.
Mount it so the outlets are horizontal.
Wire it to the fuse panel and ready to go. For a 12 volt fan I can highly recommend a Endless Breeze from Fan-Tasic. Does a great job without draining the battery.
You're welcome Qjane.
Battery Separator
A battery separator is used to both electrically tie together and separate the van's starting battery and house batteries. It contains a solenoid that opens and closes to join the two systems. During camping the van's electrical systems should only be fed from the house batteries so the separator opens to prevent the draining of the starting battery. When the engine is running the separator closes so the alternator can charge both sets of batteries. Now that Hal has solar panels installed the battery separator will also tie together the systems when the solar controller is outputting enough electricity.
I'd posted back in December about running a wire from the starting battery under the hood to the inside of the van. That wire ends up at the house electrical system under the sofa-bed. There it's wired to this Sure Power model 1315 Battery Separator.
The wire from the starting battery comes in from the right.
The wire on the left runs to here on the main breaker.
Looking at the above picture of the separator label there are connections for "Start Lamp", "Start Signal" and "Ground". The install instructions call for a 10 amp fuse in the ground connection. I used an in-line fuseholder for this connection from the separator ground connector to the grounding terminal strip on the back of my main fuse panel.
For the Start Lamp and Start Signal connections I'll need to run a couple of wires from here to the instrument panel.
The two wires will connected to a led indicator and a momentary push button switch.
The switch will provide the "Start Signal" to the separator. The separator's normal operation is to not close until either the house battery or starting battery is at 13.2 volts. In the situation where the starting battery doesn't have enough power to start the engine then pushing this switch will close the separator solenoid joining the two systems. The install instructions have one pole of the push bottom switch going to the Start Signal connector and the other pole going to a "power on start" source. I'll be doing it a little different.
Run the two wires from the separator to the underside of the instrument panel. Decide where to put the push button and led indicator. It needs to be on the left side of steering wheel since in starting operation my right hand is cranking the engine. To do this I'll have to first remove part of the instrument panel. Start with the headlight switch. Reach in under the dash and feel around on top of the light switch for a small button. Push down on the button and you can remove the knob with it's metal post.
Next unscrew this collar from the front of the cover piece. I've already remove the cover piece in this photo.
Take out the two screws at the top and the cover pops out.
Decide where there's room for the push button.
Drill holes for the push button and led indicator and install.
After soldering wires to the push button the back popped off the first time I pressing it.
Rats! I've already drilled the hole. Where am I going to get a push button switch the exact same size? I know!
Wire up the led and replacement push button to a male plug.
The positive power for the led indicator comes from the Start Lamp wire that goes to the separator. To complete the circuit I need a ground. Add a second wire to a ground connection on the left side of the instrument panel.
For the Start Signal it needs 12 volts. Instead of "power on start" I'm going to use a "hot all time" source. There might be times when I want to tie the two electrical systems other than just during engine start. Under the dash is this white wire that powers the radio from the house batteries. Use that as my source. Instead of cutting the wire use a tap. The tap slips over the source wire. Insert the new wire into the tap then squeeze the metal tab with pliers.
After the tab is squeezed all the down close the plastic latch. Done.
Add a female plug to these wires.
Plug in the new push button and led indicator. Give it a test before putting the cover back in place.
Light comes on and I can hear the solenoid in the battery separator kick in.
Looks good.
Not done yet. The separator has exposed connectors. I could easily drop a wrench and create short against the house battery frame.
Fix this by making a protective cap from scrap acrylic pieces. The Weld-On 3 cement I use works very quick so as long as a newly made joint isn't stressed just give it a couple minutes and keep building.
The solenoid on the separator gets warm so I left a lot of open space for air to circulate. Add a foot so it can be screwed down.
That's the end of the Battery Separator post.
One more thing. The replacement red capped push button. Removed it from something I'd built several years ago.
It's the Reset Button for a computer built into a Stanley toolbox.
Battery Separator
A battery separator is used to both electrically tie together and separate the van's starting battery and house batteries. It contains a solenoid that opens and closes to join the two systems. During camping the van's electrical systems should only be fed from the house batteries so the separator opens to prevent the draining of the starting battery. When the engine is running the separator closes so the alternator can charge both sets of batteries. Now that Hal has solar panels installed the battery separator will also tie together the systems when the solar controller is outputting enough electricity.
I'd posted back in December about running a wire from the starting battery under the hood to the inside of the van. That wire ends up at the house electrical system under the sofa-bed. There it's wired to this Sure Power model 1315 Battery Separator.
The wire from the starting battery comes in from the right.
The wire on the left runs to here on the main breaker.
Looking at the above picture of the separator label there are connections for "Start Lamp", "Start Signal" and "Ground". The install instructions call for a 10 amp fuse in the ground connection. I used an in-line fuseholder for this connection from the separator ground connector to the grounding terminal strip on the back of my main fuse panel.
For the Start Lamp and Start Signal connections I'll need to run a couple of wires from here to the instrument panel.
The two wires will connected to a led indicator and a momentary push button switch.
The switch will provide the "Start Signal" to the separator. The separator's normal operation is to not close until either the house battery or starting battery is at 13.2 volts. In the situation where the starting battery doesn't have enough power to start the engine then pushing this switch will close the separator solenoid joining the two systems. The install instructions have one pole of the push bottom switch going to the Start Signal connector and the other pole going to a "power on start" source. I'll be doing it a little different.
Run the two wires from the separator to the underside of the instrument panel. Decide where to put the push button and led indicator. It needs to be on the left side of steering wheel since in starting operation my right hand is cranking the engine. To do this I'll have to first remove part of the instrument panel. Start with the headlight switch. Reach in under the dash and feel around on top of the light switch for a small button. Push down on the button and you can remove the knob with it's metal post.
Next unscrew this collar from the front of the cover piece. I've already remove the cover piece in this photo.
Take out the two screws at the top and the cover pops out.
Decide where there's room for the push button.
Drill holes for the push button and led indicator and install.
After soldering wires to the push button the back popped off the first time I pressing it.
Rats! I've already drilled the hole. Where am I going to get a push button switch the exact same size? I know!
Wire up the led and replacement push button to a male plug.
The positive power for the led indicator comes from the Start Lamp wire that goes to the separator. To complete the circuit I need a ground. Add a second wire to a ground connection on the left side of the instrument panel.
For the Start Signal it needs 12 volts. Instead of "power on start" I'm going to use a "hot all time" source. There might be times when I want to tie the two electrical systems other than just during engine start. Under the dash is this white wire that powers the radio from the house batteries. Use that as my source. Instead of cutting the wire use a tap. The tap slips over the source wire. Insert the new wire into the tap then squeeze the metal tab with pliers.
After the tab is squeezed all the down close the plastic latch. Done.
Add a female plug to these wires.
Plug in the new push button and led indicator. Give it a test before putting the cover back in place.
Light comes on and I can hear the solenoid in the battery separator kick in.
Looks good.
Not done yet. The separator has exposed connectors. I could easily drop a wrench and create short against the house battery frame.
Fix this by making a protective cap from scrap acrylic pieces. The Weld-On 3 cement I use works very quick so as long as a newly made joint isn't stressed just give it a couple minutes and keep building.
The solenoid on the separator gets warm so I left a lot of open space for air to circulate. Add a foot so it can be screwed down.
That's the end of the Battery Separator post.
One more thing. The replacement red capped push button. Removed it from something I'd built several years ago.
It's the Reset Button for a computer built into a Stanley toolbox.
Solar Panels continued -
Wondered about the added weight of the solar panels so before installing them I measured the force used to raise the top. Used an electric actuator, my thinking stool, old bathroom scale and a scrap wood piece.
With the wood scrap at the top of the actuator this contraption weights about 10 lbs.
Raising the top brought the scale to 106 lbs. Subtracting 10 gives 96 lbs of force.
After raising the top 4 inches the springs in the top start to have a greater effect and less force is needed.
Install both the panels on the roof and do this test again. It's now around 153 lbs.
That makes it tough to raise. Not only that but once the top is all the way up it comes back down without much force. I can bring it down with just one finger. Not good. Have to increase the tension on the lifting springs.
WARNING: This is dangerous. Before messing with the springs you need to watch this very informative video another penthouse owner has made. He covers it in more depth.
http://vimeo.com/62530890
First thing is to get a come-along. I just picked this one up at Harbor Freight. Happened to be on sale for $14.99.
Being from Harbor Freight, before it could be used I had to completely unwind the tangled cable from the spool and then rewind it evenly.
Cut a couple supports from scrap 2x4's and use to prop up the corners of the side I'm working on. These are for safety's sake. Didn't want to bet my life on a $14.99 tool from Harbor Freight.
Remove the cover from the secondary spring and lift it out. With the top raised it's not in either tension or compression so lifts right out.
Anchor both ends of the come-along with S-hooks rated for 400 lbs.
Increase the tension on the lifting spring with the come-along until the chain comes free.
Reduce the length of the chain by one link. Hook it back on the spring and slowly release the tension by backing off the come-along until the chain is taunt. I then zip tied the now loose chain link so it wouldn't rattle.
Repeat on the opposite side.
The top now raises and lowers like it did before I put the panels on the roof. One more thing. Don't know what the max weight rating is for the penthouse top but the way everything feels I wouldn't put another pound up there. Since I don't camp in the winter where snow loading might be an issue this shouldn't be a problem.
OK, that's the end of the solar panel project. I'm currently working on backup cameras, led lighting and the battery separator so one of these will be written up next.
Wondered about the added weight of the solar panels so before installing them I measured the force used to raise the top. Used an electric actuator, my thinking stool, old bathroom scale and a scrap wood piece.
With the wood scrap at the top of the actuator this contraption weights about 10 lbs.
Raising the top brought the scale to 106 lbs. Subtracting 10 gives 96 lbs of force.
After raising the top 4 inches the springs in the top start to have a greater effect and less force is needed.
Install both the panels on the roof and do this test again. It's now around 153 lbs.
That makes it tough to raise. Not only that but once the top is all the way up it comes back down without much force. I can bring it down with just one finger. Not good. Have to increase the tension on the lifting springs.
WARNING: This is dangerous. Before messing with the springs you need to watch this very informative video another penthouse owner has made. He covers it in more depth.
http://vimeo.com/62530890
First thing is to get a come-along. I just picked this one up at Harbor Freight. Happened to be on sale for $14.99.
Being from Harbor Freight, before it could be used I had to completely unwind the tangled cable from the spool and then rewind it evenly.
Cut a couple supports from scrap 2x4's and use to prop up the corners of the side I'm working on. These are for safety's sake. Didn't want to bet my life on a $14.99 tool from Harbor Freight.
Remove the cover from the secondary spring and lift it out. With the top raised it's not in either tension or compression so lifts right out.
Anchor both ends of the come-along with S-hooks rated for 400 lbs.
Increase the tension on the lifting spring with the come-along until the chain comes free.
Reduce the length of the chain by one link. Hook it back on the spring and slowly release the tension by backing off the come-along until the chain is taunt. I then zip tied the now loose chain link so it wouldn't rattle.
Repeat on the opposite side.
The top now raises and lowers like it did before I put the panels on the roof. One more thing. Don't know what the max weight rating is for the penthouse top but the way everything feels I wouldn't put another pound up there. Since I don't camp in the winter where snow loading might be an issue this shouldn't be a problem.
OK, that's the end of the solar panel project. I'm currently working on backup cameras, led lighting and the battery separator so one of these will be written up next.
Solar Panels continued -
The solar cables now enter through the penthouse top.
To complete the circuit to the solar controller use two 10 gauge wires previously installed in the side of the van. While installing the final insulated wall panels I'd run these two wires knowing that they would eventually be needed.
Had to remove one wall panel and peel back a little of the insulation to find where I'd left the ends of the wires. The advantage of using the double sided tape to hold the Reflectix in place is it's easy to replace if you ever need to go exploring.
Have to run the wire through what used to be the roof of the van.
Splice together the solar cables and these wires.
Between one set of wires add an in-line fuse holder. The fuse is in the circuit before the wires enter the side of the van. This is in case there is a electrical short within the wall of the van. Without the fuse it would be a fire risk.
Protect the wires with corrugated plastic split-loom.
When installing the in-line fuse holder I was trying to decide where was the best position. Near the bottom? Near the top? When I had a "Well duh!" moment. Put it in the middle. Otherwise you couldn't access the fuse when the top was down.
How the back of the penthouse top looks with conduit now at each corner.
The label on the back of the solar panel recommends a 15 amp fuse but since the two panels are wired in parallel I'll use a 30 amp fuse. Notice there's no fuse in the holder.
Without the fuse I have an open circuit which means I can finally safely plug in the other set of parallel solar cables.
With the cable plugged in I won't have to reach in under the panels again so they can finally be bolted down.
The bolts used here are the 2" stainless steel bolts I bought from Fastenal. By adding one more washer the bottom of the bolt is even with the nut. Hopefully this will protect the canvas from the bolts.
Here's the wires to the solar panels and solar controller with it's cover removed. Before attaching the wires I need to figure out which is positive and negative.
Use the voltmeter. Tape the wires to the voltmeter probes then put the fuse in place. Meter reads (+) 27 volts. It's a 50-50 chance but I picked the right wire for positive. Mark the positive wire with yellow electrical tape.
Remove the fuse before proceeding. Connect the wires to the controller. I've added a shutoff switch to the controller. Wanted a way to turn off the power from the panels if needed.
Put the cover back on the controller. Put the fuse back in place. Turned the switch. Nothing happened. Oh No!
Wait, Everything's OK. It takes several seconds before the solar controller boots up and the "charge status" light comes on.
With the solar controller working this was soon the voltage reading for the van. I'm making electricity from the sun!
I began my "Electricity Happy Dance" which looked similar to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS7Og1zvdy8
continued -
The solar cables now enter through the penthouse top.
To complete the circuit to the solar controller use two 10 gauge wires previously installed in the side of the van. While installing the final insulated wall panels I'd run these two wires knowing that they would eventually be needed.
Had to remove one wall panel and peel back a little of the insulation to find where I'd left the ends of the wires. The advantage of using the double sided tape to hold the Reflectix in place is it's easy to replace if you ever need to go exploring.
Have to run the wire through what used to be the roof of the van.
Splice together the solar cables and these wires.
Between one set of wires add an in-line fuse holder. The fuse is in the circuit before the wires enter the side of the van. This is in case there is a electrical short within the wall of the van. Without the fuse it would be a fire risk.
Protect the wires with corrugated plastic split-loom.
When installing the in-line fuse holder I was trying to decide where was the best position. Near the bottom? Near the top? When I had a "Well duh!" moment. Put it in the middle. Otherwise you couldn't access the fuse when the top was down.
How the back of the penthouse top looks with conduit now at each corner.
The label on the back of the solar panel recommends a 15 amp fuse but since the two panels are wired in parallel I'll use a 30 amp fuse. Notice there's no fuse in the holder.
Without the fuse I have an open circuit which means I can finally safely plug in the other set of parallel solar cables.
With the cable plugged in I won't have to reach in under the panels again so they can finally be bolted down.
The bolts used here are the 2" stainless steel bolts I bought from Fastenal. By adding one more washer the bottom of the bolt is even with the nut. Hopefully this will protect the canvas from the bolts.
Here's the wires to the solar panels and solar controller with it's cover removed. Before attaching the wires I need to figure out which is positive and negative.
Use the voltmeter. Tape the wires to the voltmeter probes then put the fuse in place. Meter reads (+) 27 volts. It's a 50-50 chance but I picked the right wire for positive. Mark the positive wire with yellow electrical tape.
Remove the fuse before proceeding. Connect the wires to the controller. I've added a shutoff switch to the controller. Wanted a way to turn off the power from the panels if needed.
Put the cover back on the controller. Put the fuse back in place. Turned the switch. Nothing happened. Oh No!
Wait, Everything's OK. It takes several seconds before the solar controller boots up and the "charge status" light comes on.
With the solar controller working this was soon the voltage reading for the van. I'm making electricity from the sun!
I began my "Electricity Happy Dance" which looked similar to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS7Og1zvdy8
continued -
Solar Panels continued -
Up to now the work on the solar panels has been done with the penthouse roof down. Need to raise it to continue working on the wiring. Don't want to take a chance of the panels falling off so I'll put bolts through the bracket holes and the roof to stop the panels from shifting. Add the rubber pad for each bracket before inserting the bolt. I wonder which pad goes here?
There's no nuts on the bolts yet but this should be secure enough for raising and lowering the top.
Wasn't done yet but decide to step back and and admire my work.
Something I noticed during the walk around. If I place a level on the front panel.
The rear of the back panel is this far below that level.
I hadn't expect that much of a difference between them but luckily the rubber pads between the brackets and panels have given the mountings enough flexibility so there's no problems.
So raise the roof with the solar panels for the first time. Here's the amount of force needed to raise the roof now. Subtracting 10 lbs for the weight of the electric jack I'm using gives 153 lbs. I'll be covering this aspect in a upcoming posting with more details.
Here's the free ends of the parallel cables for the solar panels. While working on the wiring with the roof down I was just feeding the cables through the holes in the nylon half rod and they were sliding into the gap between the penthouse roof and the top of the van without any binding.
Now switch to the inside of van. This is the right rear corner (passenger side) of the penthouse top. Here is the conduit that protects the wires that run to the brake light on the outside of the top and the inside light on the ceiling near the front. These wires were run by Sportsmobile when they installed the top.
To run the wire for the solar panel I'll have to do something similar so let's see how they did it. There is a finish piece that runs across the back of the van below the top.
There's just a couple screws with caps that hold it in place.
Pulling back the cloth in the corner shows the hole that's drilled through the roof of the van in which the wires are run. That's how I'll get the solar cables from inside the penthouse top to the inside of the van
So how to get run the cables from outside the penthouse top to the inside? They explained it to me when I bought the top. This is the left rear corner (drivers side) of the top. I'm going to start removing these screws until I can open up a gap in where the canvas side meets the roof.
Before proceeding, unclip the top most bungee cord on the outside rear of the penthouse top. Found it's easier this way.
Start with the roll up shade.
Keep removing screws till the canvas comes free. That's what I'm looking for.
The brake lights wires are of a smaller gauge than the solar cables so were more flexible. SMB was able to just snake them through the gap. For the cables I'm going to instead drill a hole on this white covering panel.
Then feed the cables through.
This is the view under the top. The cables come through the roof, make a half loop to avoid the bolt hole then fit in between the canvas and the top. Since the half rod brings the cables in at such an acute angle it's a nice tight fit against the underside of the roof as opposed to if they came in at 90 degrees. I'm trying to avoid the bolt hole enough so the cables won't interfere with the nut and washers that will go there.
Didn't know exactly how the wiring was going to end up being routed through the top until I got to this point so put off this next step until then. Pulled about two inches of each of the two cables back through the half rod so the slack was under the solar panel. Can' t really tell from this out of focus picture but next I put a big gob of silicone II on the wires and coated those couple inches of slack generously. Then drew those gob-smacked cables back through the half rod. Smeared the remain silicone over where the cables enter the half rod. Hopefully this will waterproof the half rod.
continued
Up to now the work on the solar panels has been done with the penthouse roof down. Need to raise it to continue working on the wiring. Don't want to take a chance of the panels falling off so I'll put bolts through the bracket holes and the roof to stop the panels from shifting. Add the rubber pad for each bracket before inserting the bolt. I wonder which pad goes here?
There's no nuts on the bolts yet but this should be secure enough for raising and lowering the top.
Wasn't done yet but decide to step back and and admire my work.
Something I noticed during the walk around. If I place a level on the front panel.
The rear of the back panel is this far below that level.
I hadn't expect that much of a difference between them but luckily the rubber pads between the brackets and panels have given the mountings enough flexibility so there's no problems.
So raise the roof with the solar panels for the first time. Here's the amount of force needed to raise the roof now. Subtracting 10 lbs for the weight of the electric jack I'm using gives 153 lbs. I'll be covering this aspect in a upcoming posting with more details.
Here's the free ends of the parallel cables for the solar panels. While working on the wiring with the roof down I was just feeding the cables through the holes in the nylon half rod and they were sliding into the gap between the penthouse roof and the top of the van without any binding.
Now switch to the inside of van. This is the right rear corner (passenger side) of the penthouse top. Here is the conduit that protects the wires that run to the brake light on the outside of the top and the inside light on the ceiling near the front. These wires were run by Sportsmobile when they installed the top.
To run the wire for the solar panel I'll have to do something similar so let's see how they did it. There is a finish piece that runs across the back of the van below the top.
There's just a couple screws with caps that hold it in place.
Pulling back the cloth in the corner shows the hole that's drilled through the roof of the van in which the wires are run. That's how I'll get the solar cables from inside the penthouse top to the inside of the van
So how to get run the cables from outside the penthouse top to the inside? They explained it to me when I bought the top. This is the left rear corner (drivers side) of the top. I'm going to start removing these screws until I can open up a gap in where the canvas side meets the roof.
Before proceeding, unclip the top most bungee cord on the outside rear of the penthouse top. Found it's easier this way.
Start with the roll up shade.
Keep removing screws till the canvas comes free. That's what I'm looking for.
The brake lights wires are of a smaller gauge than the solar cables so were more flexible. SMB was able to just snake them through the gap. For the cables I'm going to instead drill a hole on this white covering panel.
Then feed the cables through.
This is the view under the top. The cables come through the roof, make a half loop to avoid the bolt hole then fit in between the canvas and the top. Since the half rod brings the cables in at such an acute angle it's a nice tight fit against the underside of the roof as opposed to if they came in at 90 degrees. I'm trying to avoid the bolt hole enough so the cables won't interfere with the nut and washers that will go there.
Didn't know exactly how the wiring was going to end up being routed through the top until I got to this point so put off this next step until then. Pulled about two inches of each of the two cables back through the half rod so the slack was under the solar panel. Can' t really tell from this out of focus picture but next I put a big gob of silicone II on the wires and coated those couple inches of slack generously. Then drew those gob-smacked cables back through the half rod. Smeared the remain silicone over where the cables enter the half rod. Hopefully this will waterproof the half rod.
continued
Solar Panels continued -
A painting tip. I found that by standing the panels on end it was easier to spray under the mounting edge on the back.
Also a trash can makes a good painting stand. Easier to spin the panel around like on a lazy susan.
With the brackets painted next make a rubber pad for the angle iron end where it bolts to the penthouse top. The pad will serve to both protect the fiberglass top and hopefully seal around the bolt to prevent water penetration. I have a roll of butyl rubber bought from MacMaster-Carr. This is not the sticky and malleable kind of butyl tape I've used before but more like bike inner tube rubber.
Cut a custom piece for each bracket with a drilled 1/4" hole in the rubber for the 5/16" bolt. Marked both the bracket and rubber pad so they could be matched up again later. The letter I wrote on the bracket will be hidden on the underside when bolted down. I also cut more pads that will go between the brackets and the solar panels. These pads are to act as an insulator between the aluminum panels and steel brackets to prevent galvanic corrosion. The pads had an added benefit which I'll cover later.
Get my box of stainless steel nuts and bolts I ordered from McMaster-Carr. I ordered 1" and 1-1/2" long 5/16" bolts. Ended up also needing 2" long. Luckily I have a Fastenal in town.
Bolt four brackets onto the front most panel.
Mount the other two brackets on the back panel.
Put the panels on the top of the van.
Bolt the two set of panels together. The debris you can see on the roof was knocked off the trees by the rain storm earlier in the day.
With the panels bolted together check that the roof holes line up. I had to make some adjustments to a couple of the brackets to get it just right.
Use some 2x4 pieces to hold up both the panels so I get my hands underneath them to do the final tightening of the bolts holding the panels to the brackets.
Next start working on the wiring.
Again the wood block were helpfully in giving me room to work.
Here is the wires running just under the protective angle iron piece I added to the end of the one bracket.
The wiring is on the drivers side of the van since that's the side the solar controller is on. It's getting kind of crowded under the rear panel. I ended up adding a couple more nylon anchors to tie everything down. You can't tell from the picture but I've only plugged in one of the two parallel cables I made earlier. Without both cables plugged in then I don't have to worry about the the uncapped wires being electrically "alive". I need to know how much slack will be left when they are all plugged in so the unplugged ends are zip tied near their final position.
I needed extra room under the panel to do this work. The advantage of the rubber pads between the panels and brackets is to allow them enough flexibility for me to prop up this corner bracket even higher without having to raise the other brackets.
continued -
A painting tip. I found that by standing the panels on end it was easier to spray under the mounting edge on the back.
Also a trash can makes a good painting stand. Easier to spin the panel around like on a lazy susan.
With the brackets painted next make a rubber pad for the angle iron end where it bolts to the penthouse top. The pad will serve to both protect the fiberglass top and hopefully seal around the bolt to prevent water penetration. I have a roll of butyl rubber bought from MacMaster-Carr. This is not the sticky and malleable kind of butyl tape I've used before but more like bike inner tube rubber.
Cut a custom piece for each bracket with a drilled 1/4" hole in the rubber for the 5/16" bolt. Marked both the bracket and rubber pad so they could be matched up again later. The letter I wrote on the bracket will be hidden on the underside when bolted down. I also cut more pads that will go between the brackets and the solar panels. These pads are to act as an insulator between the aluminum panels and steel brackets to prevent galvanic corrosion. The pads had an added benefit which I'll cover later.
Get my box of stainless steel nuts and bolts I ordered from McMaster-Carr. I ordered 1" and 1-1/2" long 5/16" bolts. Ended up also needing 2" long. Luckily I have a Fastenal in town.
Bolt four brackets onto the front most panel.
Mount the other two brackets on the back panel.
Put the panels on the top of the van.
Bolt the two set of panels together. The debris you can see on the roof was knocked off the trees by the rain storm earlier in the day.
With the panels bolted together check that the roof holes line up. I had to make some adjustments to a couple of the brackets to get it just right.
Use some 2x4 pieces to hold up both the panels so I get my hands underneath them to do the final tightening of the bolts holding the panels to the brackets.
Next start working on the wiring.
Again the wood block were helpfully in giving me room to work.
Here is the wires running just under the protective angle iron piece I added to the end of the one bracket.
The wiring is on the drivers side of the van since that's the side the solar controller is on. It's getting kind of crowded under the rear panel. I ended up adding a couple more nylon anchors to tie everything down. You can't tell from the picture but I've only plugged in one of the two parallel cables I made earlier. Without both cables plugged in then I don't have to worry about the the uncapped wires being electrically "alive". I need to know how much slack will be left when they are all plugged in so the unplugged ends are zip tied near their final position.
I needed extra room under the panel to do this work. The advantage of the rubber pads between the panels and brackets is to allow them enough flexibility for me to prop up this corner bracket even higher without having to raise the other brackets.
continued -
