2003 Dodge Ram Van 3500 Build - Part Time Traveler

[faded1004]

okay... busy at work... got a new phone cause old one was acting weird... so much to do...

so, i got to really just let the van sit for a day to confirm my daily consumption. and it finally stabilized at around 39 to 41 AH per 24 hour period. fridge with freezer freezing, lights on at night to work on van, vent fan on 80% speed @78 F activation, and always parking in the sun (average day temp is 80-90 the last week here in southern california. i feel like it isn't much, but i am sure there are also a lot of charging losses, inverter losses, 24v to 12v conversion losses, and also all the meters that are on 24/7. so my estimate will be i can last about 3 days with no sun charging and battery bank will be at 50% capacity. i want to try to test that next week.



i also started working on my pallet brake fence. so, since building my water module. i was thinking... i had only planned on using the bed planks to hold pallets in place when i use the brakes. but if i have the bed in use, and water module is installed. how can i hold it back? so i thought, i would just make this simple fence to hold the pallet in place when i hit the brakes. 1" baltic birch plywood, 4" tall, and the braces are held in with #12 screws with waterproof wood glue.



when i don't need the fence, i can easily just lift it out of place and stow it away somewhere.

i also got to work on the water module power line. i ordered 10awg wire to go from the breaker panel near the side door to the rear door where i would put in a quick disconnect. i actually bought a bunch of solar quick disconnects cause i thought i would need them, but never used any? i bought a extension cable and it had the connectors installed. so in the end... didn't need it? so i figured, i would use them for this. makes it easy to unplug and also get water proof connections. win-win.

so as of right now, only 1 more 5 amp breaker open... the one i was going to use for the cellular amplifier.



i didn't have the water module in cause i was working on the brake fence... but here you can see i layed out the wire to show how it will go to the pump which is located on the driver side. the wire pops out of the rear of the passenger side box.



tomorrow i am going to throw the water module back into the car and hook up the wires to the pump. i am wondering if i should install a kill switch right there on the rear of the water module also? i think i will... would be the best right?

i also have been getting supplies ready that aren't installed on the van persay... more like... coffee maker, stainless pot to warm childs morning milk, stove for cooking, got a new 2 season sleeping bag for adults, princess sleeping bag for baby, medium ice cooler for overflow fridge stuff (had to buy, i only have really big and small coolers)... yea... like those things... i am also trying to figure out which and how i am going to setup storage bins for the van.

when i stow the water module at my work when i am not using it for camping... i want to also attach or set on top my bins for my supplies. kitchen supplies box, extra clothing box, misc tools (like hatchet and lights). i am leaning towards low flat bins so i can easily see everything inside at a glance. i hate digging into stuff.

things on my want list but can't have right now:

5lb propane tank (instead of lugging around a 20lb tank)
jetboil minimo stove and cup (i am still using my dual fuel pumping stove)

 

[spencyg]

Great work here. I appreciate your focus on the systems aspect of your rig as I tend to do the same. One word of caution...over time those "big box store" push-to-connect water fittings fail. I've been thru many of them on my rig and just this spring ripped them all out in favor of hose and barb fittings.

SG

 

[faded1004]

Great work here. I appreciate your focus on the systems aspect of your rig as I tend to do the same. One word of caution...over time those "big box store" push-to-connect water fittings fail. I've been thru many of them on my rig and just this spring ripped them all out in favor of hose and barb fittings.

SG

thanks, caution is welcome... if you had to put a number, how many years before you noticed failures?

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so after a day of charging with the fridge on, i went to test the battery bank with just the fan on through the night.



everything came out great. looks like my average battery voltage through out the whole bank was about 25.52v, which makes the cell average voltage about 12.76v! it should be a good number to note since the batteries were sitting all night. which in regular SOC (state of charge) is about 90 to 100%. it isn't super full per optima specs (13v max) so i am hoping i can get a good no sun test next week. with the sun during the day, i only pulled in about 34ah yesterday which is an average low. from my thoughts, 100F+ days i use 45ah (fridge + fan@80%), 90F+ i use about 40AH, and 80+ a am using 35AH... i wonder what consumption will be like when we get back down to <70F average daily temperatures?

i found a source for "budget master" sealed agm deep cycle group 31 batteries yesterday. supposedly reconditioned after use at a local kaiser hospital? they are selling for 60 each with 10 month warranty. sounded like a great deal so i am going to keep those in mind in case more of my optimas fail... or i can't get good life later on from my used optima batteries. am i wrong? has anyone heard of these batteries? i don't see any clear searches on google...

 

[DzlToy]

Thanks for the tip on the Super 90!

Be very careful when choosing spray adhesives. It is very important to get the correct product for your application. Stores like Home Depot may carry a general purpose Super 77 or Super 90, but that doesnt mean its the right application for the job.

Conversely, just because the Locktite (Henkel AG) did NOT work, does not mean that it is not a good quality product.

There are literally HUNDREDS, if not thousands of spray adhesives, high bond and very high bond tapes, as well as tube products made by companies like Sika Industries. Sikaflex 252, a commonly known "general purpose" product, which is not good for "everything" is another good example. If it were, they wouldn't have other products

A friend of mine does custom upholstery for a living and he has to be very careful what adhesives he uses on foams, seats, headliners and door panels. Some will delaminate in heat, some will soak through a headliner and discolour it, etc.

It is important to get the right product for the job. I have found that 3M tech reps were neither helpful with nor knowledgeable about their products. Additionally, it took about 5-6 weeks to get some samples that I requested. Tech was supposed to mail it out the next day.

.02

 

[faded1004]

Be very careful when choosing spray adhesives. It is very important to get the correct product for your application.

i totally agree... i don't proclaim i am pro... just documenting what i used and how it worked for me. which is why i tested what was easily available for me. and what i saw other people used for a similar application... i tried to be clear on what i used, what i used it on, and any special details that i came across... you know... to help anyone add to their experimentation knowledge...

i do know about he tube adhesives, but i couldn't get my hands on it easily... like sikaflex... you have no idea how many times i had to go back and get more adhesive... i had to balance timeliness and cost.

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yesterday night i stopped my fridge, gonna charge and top off for the weekend and test a "no sun" endurance test. i started to work on wrapping my hatchet with paracord... and short of finishing it... i jacked up my hands...

i would use 2 fingers to pull and then it would get sore, so i used another set of fingers to pull, then another... i was wondering why my fingers were all so raw and looked at my hand... it turns out i had mini blisters all over the fingers! i guess i was trying to pull so tight it was kinda burning my skin?



so yea, since my hands were jacked up so much... i couldn't work on anything... so sad... gonna rest with bandaids... then work more starting monday i guess. i hope this all heals by then. now that i stopped my right hand is in so much pain...