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2000 Ford E350 15 Passenger Van Build
#51
(01-27-2018, 08:46 PM)rvpopeye Wrote: And..................just when you thought you were done..........
http://www.cheaprvliving.com/forums/show...?tid=23592

You are an EVIL man, rvpopeye!

(I'm up to page 10 of 159 there now, I was gonna ignore it!)
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  • rvpopeye (01-28-2018)
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#52
Very few of us have read all the way through both YARC sites ....
There will be a small award ceremony if you "read it all". Wink 

The real award is the laughs you will have. 
I go back and read parts when there's nothing going on at the moment.

Plus
What you will learn about the members that posted.
stay tuned 
popeye


 Weirdo Overlord : FMS Fleet Ops , Awards , Badges ,  aka Tamerlane the Impaler Mod.
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  • S Cello (01-28-2018)
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#53
I've been working on the van on any days where I haven't had medical stuff going on.  The rest of my battery bank came in and I installed it. I had gotten one of those 16 ton hydraulic crimpers because I new that I would need to modify the 4/O cables that came with my solar system. I also had to use it to crimp #6 wire as well. The crimper is working out well and the cost was under $50.

[Image: IMG_0172.jpg]

That completed, I had to start/resume cabinetry work again.  I've done many plywood projects before so I have not been intimidated by that, but the cabinet faces and doors are completely new to my experience. I picked up a doweling jig at Lowes and that is working out ok for putting together the cabinet faces.

[Image: IMG_0170.jpg]

So then it was on to the shelving in the pantry. I picked up a small 1000 watt microwave so I would have it on hand to measure for fit into one section of the pantry. That is going in the larger middle opening to the left of the small box. I have yet to put the shelf above the microwave and it looks like that short shelf should be okay for canned goods and spices.

[Image: IMG_0173.jpg]

 Behind the battery bank is the passenger side wheel well. The 40 gallon water tank is going under the bed just next to the drivers side wheel well and the tank should be coming here on Monday. I will finish out the pantry then get started on the bed and then the smaller cabinet to the rear of the bed next week.
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  • Ballenxj (02-03-2018), Putts (02-04-2018)
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#54
Ah, another week coming to a close. A little more work on the van. The cabinet face construction is going slow due to the learning process, but the wardrobe and pantry are done. I will need to go get a sheet of quality 3/4 inch plywood for the cabinet doors and I will have to install the ladder racks to bring it home on by the end of the month. The more furniture that gets built in the van, the less it will carry inside.

Here's the pantry cabinet face.

[Image: IMG_0174.jpg]

I installed receptacles for the kitchen counter top and the microwave. I placed wood blocks and strips in the microwave spot to keep it from sliding out and crashing and to keep the left side away from the wall so the airflow from it won't get blocked.
The lower section that covers the batteries I extended 3 1/2 inches to the right to help protect that expensive 250 amp 12 volt breaker. I can reach in with my hand to turn it off and on. I opened the area in front of the 2 smaller breakers so I can see which is which when powering up or down the charge controller.

The 3/4 plywood that I made that cover out of looks quite distressed once I stained it and put on a few coats of polyurethane. The reason is that that sheet of 3/4 plywood was at the top of a short stack of plywood that I carried in the van for at least 7 years whilst carrying pallets of cement blocks, pallets of fertilizer and maybe 100 trips to the dump with piles of full garbage bags of household garbage. I did sand it a bit.

[Image: IMG_0188.jpg]

I've spent some time this week adding coats of polyurethane to the ceiling so I can get to the 3 coats recommended on the directions on the side of the can. one more to go tomorrow then I can put the trim rings on the roof vents and install the cheesy led light fixtures that I got.

I spent an hour today laying out for the bed which is the largest thing in the van. I marked the rear corner of the bed and the rear cabinet on the drivers side. it was starting to look a bit cramped so I brought in my porta potti and closed the back doors. I found that if I reduce the depth of the rear cabinet by 2 inches, I should be able to wipe my butt. Change made.  So I started cutting more plywood.

Last night after applying some stain, I left the ceiling fan on for 4 hours when I went in. When I went out to shut it off, my idiot light battery charge indicator had dropped from 100% to 90%. So I figured I better finally put a charge to those batteries that been sitting around for awhile.

So this morning I drug out the old Honda 3000i and managed to get it started.

[Image: IMG_0179.jpg]

I love that thing. It started even after so many months and years of neglect. It had a half gallon of 2 year old gas in it but the gas had a decent amount of Stabil added when I bought it. After maybe 6 pulls, it started and I added some sea foam to clear the cobwebs. Good to go! I plugged in the new van coach cord and used the Magnum charger to bring the batteries back up. There was just a bit of reading and setting of parameters on the thing to be done before charging.
The Magnum lets you set the incoming amperage which I set at 25 amps to hopefully match the generator output. I guessed that it would have more juice than my extension cord which is well over 100 feet from the incoming service panel.
I was occasionally watching the ME_ARC display to see the charging as it progressed. I suppose I should have taken better notes for those that might be interested, but I was doing all the above mentioned polyurethaning and practice butt wiping ect.

It was in Bulk charging for maybe 5 or 10 minutes, then went to Absorption for quite a longer period. Absorption was at 14.7 volts and for amps I was seeing two different numbers, depending on whether I was looking at the BMK device reading (the thing that reads off the shunt but displays on the ME-ARC) or the inverter amp reading.
Bulk amps were up around 50 and Absorption amps started in the 40s, dropping to 5ish(on the BMK reading) when the generator ran out of the old gas. I refilled it with fresh gas and restarted it at which point the charger said it was in float. Float was at 13.77 volts and started out around 4.6 amps and wound down to about 3.6 amps. There was a bit of flutter to those BMK numbers, at the end say, from 4.4 fluttering down to 3.4 and back and forth.
The charger shut itself down at that point. At this point I'm not sure why it shut itself off, could have been amps or could have been timer.
I've read the instructions at least 5 times through, but I still need to focus in on that charging routine some.

[Image: IMG_0180.jpg]

[Image: IMG_0181.jpg]

[Image: IMG_0185.jpg]

I'm gonna guess the batteries are charged. oh, I had selected AGM-2 as battery type as that was closest to the Crown battery engineer's recommendations for charging. Voltages just one or two tenth of a volt over his recommends.
The battery bank is 440 AH.
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  • Ballenxj (02-10-2018)
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#55
You had me at 'Seafoam.' Smile

The visuals of bruised elbows from butt wiping practice were a little off-putting, but the rest looks great!

From the outside looking in van dwellers might seem like a bunch of homeless people, but from the inside looking out we're a busy bunch of low rent space ship engineers.

Nice work, Cello, looking forward to your progress.
YARC : Drunk in the Mud/Keeper of the Dingy/Ears [Image: L3000.gif]/Potluck Contributions Restricted
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  • Cammalu (02-10-2018), S Cello (02-10-2018)
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#56
Sorry all for the bad visual there. I was in fact fully clothed for the trial there. It's that tight in a van with no high top and I'm trying to build in plenty of storage space.
I guess that part of the post might have went over better on the other website where the seem to have a section about defecating? I'm not ambitious enough to post the build two places.
Sorry again for any bruised minds eyes!
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#57
No worries. It gives me consolation for the hours spent figuring out exactly how big to build my throne area. It gives me just enough room for movement maneuvers. Smile
YARC : Drunk in the Mud/Keeper of the Dingy/Ears [Image: L3000.gif]/Potluck Contributions Restricted
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  • S Cello (02-10-2018), Snikwahjm (02-11-2018)
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#58
I worked on the bed this week and the 40 gallon water tank underneath it. The tank was cheap at $80 and fairly thin walled, so I caged it in with a lot of 2 x 2s and 1 x 4s. At the front I used 2 x 6s to keep the tank from sliding forward if I have to stop real fast.

[Image: IMG_0191.jpg]

The return air for the furnace runs un-ducted under the bed and the cut out there is for a return air grill.

[Image: IMG_0192.jpg]

[Image: IMG_0193.jpg]

[Image: IMG_0194.jpg]

Today I worked on the plumbing. I installed the 1 1/4" water fill pipe and the 1/2" vent. I installed the water pump and plumbed it and wired it. When I put some water in the tank and turned the pump on, it was blowing bubbles in the tank! I had forgotten to check the pump for water flow direction. So I reversed that and it worked ok then.

[Image: IMG_0195.jpg]

[Image: IMG_0196.jpg]

I tied the pump discharge to the underfloor cold water pipe and on the other side of the van where the sink will go I just installed a flex line to a kitchen faucet spray nozzle so I can go camping maybe before I install the little kitchen counter.

[Image: IMG_0197.jpg]

Maybe next week I will get around to installing the switch to turn off the pump. For now, I just pulled the fuse.

The water tank and wheel well take up the rear 4 feet of the bed, leaving  the front 2 feet for storage.
I am hoping that I can store some towels on top of the water tank, and there is a bit of storage above and around the wheel well.

Next week I hope to finish the bed carpentry and build the rear storage cabinet. That cabinet will come out from the wall 18 inches and be 25 inches wide, floor to ceiling.

The bed is 32 inches wide and 74 inches long.
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  • AbuelaLoca (02-21-2018)
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#59
doing an excellent job decking out this van,think my tank is only 25 gallons,have you filled it up and had the batteries in to see how it is sitting?
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  • S Cello (02-17-2018)
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#60
Where did you get your tank ? Great work on this . Thank you for bringing us along on the build adventure. I wonder if anybody has designed a urinal in their van. Something like they have in the port a cans at construction sites. Something that could be hidden, cleaned easily, and sealed off when not in use. Curious.
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  • S Cello (02-17-2018)
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