Vanessa, the Jersey Girl
- Thread starter SirMrManGuy
- Start date
SirMrManGuy
Observer
SirMrManGuy
Observer
I promised to post a review of some of my build/gear decisions ages ago, wrote half of it and finally finished it. Here it is:
1. Dometic CFX-DZUS. The first fridge I received from Amazon had a defective screen but cooled fine, after some messing around with Amazon it was replaced. The new fridge has been running constantly since March now, no issues. We really love having a fridge and freezer, it has allowed us to keep a really normal diet. We keep frozen meat and ice cream, popsicles, freeze leftovers etc. It's great. The cooler style layout is a bit annoying to find stuff in versus a normal fridge at first, but stuff seems to stay in place really well on rough roads. The fridge side has two compartments, the shorter one above the compressor is good for veggies (stays a bit warmer) and the deeper one is great for milk, cans, jars and is a bit colder at the bottom.
The fan is nice and quiet, no louder than a computer fan, and it doesn't seem to pump much heat into the van. Comes on maybe twice an hour for a few minutes.
The slide that we bought with it is good quality, my only gripe is that it is shared with the 95 liter model so it sticks out about two inches further than it needs all around. It a cheaper than the Engel and ARB slides though, and about what I could have built it for after buying full extension slides and latches, and could work with other fridges as it has space for straps in addition to the holes for bolting the fridge directly to it.
The insulated cover seems good​, no no issues and I feel like it helps with the efficiency. It's getting a bit of wear from sliding in and out a bunch but it's not really an issue.
2. Camp chef oven- I was a bit worried about the durability of the oven when I got it but it has held up fine. The oven combined with the fridge really has helped us eat well. We go out to eat maybe one a week or two, so the cooking great has probably saved us it's price in food. We have made pork roasts, brownies, muffins, etc with it. There were two things i picked up from the Amazon reviews: buy a separate thermometer (I got a $7 stainless one by Rubbermaid) and buy the pizza stone for the oven. The pizza stone is important because there is only one burner in the oven so if you leave it on the bottom all the time it helps to distribute the heat. Otherwise it gets a hot spot in the middle.
The oven is a bit underpowered (3000btu), tops out at about 180c/375f. Some things take longer to cook but that's usually ok.
The two burners on top are great, good heat control and nice and wide flames.
It's a bit big for a weekender camping rig but for us doing this full time I'm all about it. I also have an MSR pocket rocket canister stove with me that we use to make coffee in the morning when we're too lazy to get the big oven out.
Get the adapter hose and a big bottle. The 11lb bottle of propane lasts about six weeks and costs $10 to refill. Much cheaper than camping canisters.
3. Eccotemp L5 propane water heater- I've used this a few times and it's ok. There is a finicky pressure valve inside it that needs adjustment or else it turns off after 10s. We've used this about ten to fifteen times in five months but mostly because we've found places to swim or shower.
4. Water system - 100l of water is great. We fill up at paid campgrounds or RV sani-dumps weekly when we check in to town to do laundry and other stuff. I haven't even come close to draining it, maybe 1/3 left at the lowest, so we could easily do about 10 days, and we aren't sparse with our water use, constantly washing dishes, drinking, cooking etc. The sure flow pump is good, maybe even more pressure and flow than I need.
5. Renogy solar system - works great, super happy to have it. The highest I've seen it on my volt meter is 8-9 amps, which is about 60% of it's theoretical efficiency but I've never really tried pointing the panels directly into the sun as they aren't adjustable. If I find a hill pointed in the right direction sometime I might give it a try. As I said above, this with the two batteries seems to work well for our loads. My recommendation is to get as many panels and batteries as you can fit/afford. I did a bunch of research on MMPT vs PWM chargers and couldn't really come to a conclusion if mmpt was worth the extra money, the PWM Renogy charger seems to work fine for vehicle use/what I'm doing.
6. Blue sea wiring gear - all great stuff, good instructions/cutout templates. No complaints, worth the price.
Love the ACR, it's great to have two ways to charge the house batteries. Being able to self jump start is cool too. By the way I didn't use the start isolation feature because I didn't feel like pulling another wire from the starter solenoid(don't know if anyone does this in vans) but everything seems fine without it.
7. Lighting
The 6in strip lights I installed above the bed are very bright, so I never use them. I just use the round lights. I wish I had installed a reading light, similar to this https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Lighti...d=1497837608&sr=8-1&keywords=rv+reading+light
Those reading lamps were my original plan, but I was worried about them sticking down too far and hitting my head on them and got those strip lights instead. They are decent enough lights, just not right for what I wanted them for. I guess I could install a cheap remote control dimmer inline too.
The 6 little round lights are great. We use these all the time, perfect light colour and brightness.
The two lights I have above the awning are Alpina Hexfires. Two issues with them, for some reason my auto parts store only had one in stock when I bought it and ordered the second. They are actually slightly different as one had sat on the shelf for awhile and they changed the light a bit (you have to look pretty close but the housing and bracket are different). One of these has some condensation behind the lense but is still working, but I'd call it a quality issue. I can't tell which was the newer model, so not sure what to say.
8. Van layout, bedding etc - we love the rv queen-size bed. The layout is a bit unconventional (bed towards the front seats) but it seems to maximize storage area for the equipment we have.
The bed is a bit high, but it really wasn't a bother after getting used to it and learning how to best move around inside the van after the first week or so. For two people worth of gear(biking, climbing, camping), clothing, water and food to do a long continuous trip this is working for us.
It's hard to tell from the pictures but the front of the bed is a bit back from the seats. In my regular cab 1500 I really liked having that stash space behind the seats, so the panel in front of the bed is about the same distance back. We have a toolbox behind the driver's seat and an organizer behind the passenger seat we keep snacks and essentials in.
I really love the 8in memory foam mattress we have. Super comfortable, honestly better than the mattress I had at home before leaving on this trip. A total win for $200 delivered. Since it's a standard size we were able to get fitted sheets, we have two sets which we rotate weekly.
9. The l-track has been nice. It was nice to allow us to figure out our storage a bit at the beginning. Mostly the hooks stay in one place now and hold our helmets and camelbacks, but we have moved them a few times to string up line to hang wet bike clothes. They were also useful after watching 50 shades of grey one night….
10. Insulation/sound deadening/interior. The Noico liner was ok, not as nice as dynamat but much cheaper.
The easy cool insulation was easy to install and I like it better than reflectix, since it's foam lined vs air I think it will hold up better.
The van is whisper quiet on the road now. Much better than an empty cargo van.
We have the right amount of insulation for a three season rig. There have been a few nights that got close to freezing at the beginning, so we just got out the sleeping bag and were fine. For winter camping another layer of insulation, a vent fan and a heater would be nice to add.
I don't know if I'd do another interior with 5mm underlayment ply. It's not as flexible as I'd like, but then again I also hate wood work… I'm much better with metal. Maybe if I could find some reasonable priced plastic I'd do that. That said the ply is really sturdy and holding up great.
The carpet we ended up using is called Trunk liner, it's half the cost of Hull liner, a bit thinner (still 1/4in or so) but more color choices. Really easy to work with, wears well, would use again.
As I said before...HHR Contact cement from a spray gun is the way to go, no glue failures yet.
Regrets:
Not installing a roof fan. I really didnt want to cut a big hole in the van when I was building it (I fretted about even doing the cable glands for awhile) but now that the nights are getting warmer it would really be nice to have.
I do have a cheap plug in fan that I use on hot nights but it hasn't been that hot very often since we're mostly traveling “north of the wall”.
2. I kind of regret not lifting the van (but much less than the fan). The transmission crossmember on these things is really really low and seems to scrape really easy (like when trying to jump a curb). I should have lifted it even though I was keeping the stock wheel and tire size.
1. Dometic CFX-DZUS. The first fridge I received from Amazon had a defective screen but cooled fine, after some messing around with Amazon it was replaced. The new fridge has been running constantly since March now, no issues. We really love having a fridge and freezer, it has allowed us to keep a really normal diet. We keep frozen meat and ice cream, popsicles, freeze leftovers etc. It's great. The cooler style layout is a bit annoying to find stuff in versus a normal fridge at first, but stuff seems to stay in place really well on rough roads. The fridge side has two compartments, the shorter one above the compressor is good for veggies (stays a bit warmer) and the deeper one is great for milk, cans, jars and is a bit colder at the bottom.
The fan is nice and quiet, no louder than a computer fan, and it doesn't seem to pump much heat into the van. Comes on maybe twice an hour for a few minutes.
The slide that we bought with it is good quality, my only gripe is that it is shared with the 95 liter model so it sticks out about two inches further than it needs all around. It a cheaper than the Engel and ARB slides though, and about what I could have built it for after buying full extension slides and latches, and could work with other fridges as it has space for straps in addition to the holes for bolting the fridge directly to it.
The insulated cover seems good​, no no issues and I feel like it helps with the efficiency. It's getting a bit of wear from sliding in and out a bunch but it's not really an issue.
2. Camp chef oven- I was a bit worried about the durability of the oven when I got it but it has held up fine. The oven combined with the fridge really has helped us eat well. We go out to eat maybe one a week or two, so the cooking great has probably saved us it's price in food. We have made pork roasts, brownies, muffins, etc with it. There were two things i picked up from the Amazon reviews: buy a separate thermometer (I got a $7 stainless one by Rubbermaid) and buy the pizza stone for the oven. The pizza stone is important because there is only one burner in the oven so if you leave it on the bottom all the time it helps to distribute the heat. Otherwise it gets a hot spot in the middle.
The oven is a bit underpowered (3000btu), tops out at about 180c/375f. Some things take longer to cook but that's usually ok.
The two burners on top are great, good heat control and nice and wide flames.
It's a bit big for a weekender camping rig but for us doing this full time I'm all about it. I also have an MSR pocket rocket canister stove with me that we use to make coffee in the morning when we're too lazy to get the big oven out.
Get the adapter hose and a big bottle. The 11lb bottle of propane lasts about six weeks and costs $10 to refill. Much cheaper than camping canisters.
3. Eccotemp L5 propane water heater- I've used this a few times and it's ok. There is a finicky pressure valve inside it that needs adjustment or else it turns off after 10s. We've used this about ten to fifteen times in five months but mostly because we've found places to swim or shower.
4. Water system - 100l of water is great. We fill up at paid campgrounds or RV sani-dumps weekly when we check in to town to do laundry and other stuff. I haven't even come close to draining it, maybe 1/3 left at the lowest, so we could easily do about 10 days, and we aren't sparse with our water use, constantly washing dishes, drinking, cooking etc. The sure flow pump is good, maybe even more pressure and flow than I need.
5. Renogy solar system - works great, super happy to have it. The highest I've seen it on my volt meter is 8-9 amps, which is about 60% of it's theoretical efficiency but I've never really tried pointing the panels directly into the sun as they aren't adjustable. If I find a hill pointed in the right direction sometime I might give it a try. As I said above, this with the two batteries seems to work well for our loads. My recommendation is to get as many panels and batteries as you can fit/afford. I did a bunch of research on MMPT vs PWM chargers and couldn't really come to a conclusion if mmpt was worth the extra money, the PWM Renogy charger seems to work fine for vehicle use/what I'm doing.
6. Blue sea wiring gear - all great stuff, good instructions/cutout templates. No complaints, worth the price.
Love the ACR, it's great to have two ways to charge the house batteries. Being able to self jump start is cool too. By the way I didn't use the start isolation feature because I didn't feel like pulling another wire from the starter solenoid(don't know if anyone does this in vans) but everything seems fine without it.
7. Lighting
The 6in strip lights I installed above the bed are very bright, so I never use them. I just use the round lights. I wish I had installed a reading light, similar to this https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Lighti...d=1497837608&sr=8-1&keywords=rv+reading+light
Those reading lamps were my original plan, but I was worried about them sticking down too far and hitting my head on them and got those strip lights instead. They are decent enough lights, just not right for what I wanted them for. I guess I could install a cheap remote control dimmer inline too.
The 6 little round lights are great. We use these all the time, perfect light colour and brightness.
The two lights I have above the awning are Alpina Hexfires. Two issues with them, for some reason my auto parts store only had one in stock when I bought it and ordered the second. They are actually slightly different as one had sat on the shelf for awhile and they changed the light a bit (you have to look pretty close but the housing and bracket are different). One of these has some condensation behind the lense but is still working, but I'd call it a quality issue. I can't tell which was the newer model, so not sure what to say.
8. Van layout, bedding etc - we love the rv queen-size bed. The layout is a bit unconventional (bed towards the front seats) but it seems to maximize storage area for the equipment we have.
The bed is a bit high, but it really wasn't a bother after getting used to it and learning how to best move around inside the van after the first week or so. For two people worth of gear(biking, climbing, camping), clothing, water and food to do a long continuous trip this is working for us.
It's hard to tell from the pictures but the front of the bed is a bit back from the seats. In my regular cab 1500 I really liked having that stash space behind the seats, so the panel in front of the bed is about the same distance back. We have a toolbox behind the driver's seat and an organizer behind the passenger seat we keep snacks and essentials in.
I really love the 8in memory foam mattress we have. Super comfortable, honestly better than the mattress I had at home before leaving on this trip. A total win for $200 delivered. Since it's a standard size we were able to get fitted sheets, we have two sets which we rotate weekly.
9. The l-track has been nice. It was nice to allow us to figure out our storage a bit at the beginning. Mostly the hooks stay in one place now and hold our helmets and camelbacks, but we have moved them a few times to string up line to hang wet bike clothes. They were also useful after watching 50 shades of grey one night….
10. Insulation/sound deadening/interior. The Noico liner was ok, not as nice as dynamat but much cheaper.
The easy cool insulation was easy to install and I like it better than reflectix, since it's foam lined vs air I think it will hold up better.
The van is whisper quiet on the road now. Much better than an empty cargo van.
We have the right amount of insulation for a three season rig. There have been a few nights that got close to freezing at the beginning, so we just got out the sleeping bag and were fine. For winter camping another layer of insulation, a vent fan and a heater would be nice to add.
I don't know if I'd do another interior with 5mm underlayment ply. It's not as flexible as I'd like, but then again I also hate wood work… I'm much better with metal. Maybe if I could find some reasonable priced plastic I'd do that. That said the ply is really sturdy and holding up great.
The carpet we ended up using is called Trunk liner, it's half the cost of Hull liner, a bit thinner (still 1/4in or so) but more color choices. Really easy to work with, wears well, would use again.
As I said before...HHR Contact cement from a spray gun is the way to go, no glue failures yet.
Regrets:
Not installing a roof fan. I really didnt want to cut a big hole in the van when I was building it (I fretted about even doing the cable glands for awhile) but now that the nights are getting warmer it would really be nice to have.
I do have a cheap plug in fan that I use on hot nights but it hasn't been that hot very often since we're mostly traveling “north of the wall”.
2. I kind of regret not lifting the van (but much less than the fan). The transmission crossmember on these things is really really low and seems to scrape really easy (like when trying to jump a curb). I should have lifted it even though I was keeping the stock wheel and tire size.