We finally have considerable progress!!
The diesel system is done! Here’s what we ended up with in the end:
2 kalori blowers. The first one is under the sink and split 3 ways - 1 directly across from dinette, 1 under the shower at the entry end of the camper, 1 in the bed area.
The second blower was added primarily to heat the basement area. We put a wireless thermostat in the basement and found it was about 25-30 degrees cooler than the living area when the heat was on. The rig did come with electric tank heaters installed but they take a lot of power so heating the basement with an extra blower seemed a good idea. It’s split 2 ways, to the basement and to the main living area. It’s located under the fridge where the old furnace was (will get pic next time I go out). The area that was taken up by the old propane furnace now has a new blower, a dehumidifier and a huge drawer for storage! It’s amazing the space we gained.
We can choose to run one or both blowers via a bypass system Greg put in.
We don’t have info on power draw yet because the PLC isn’t hooked up but I’m hoping to have some info on that soon.
Although it was 20 degrees out, we did get to test the hot water and it’s definitely instant! We were really impressed!
The sliding mount Greg built out of 80/20 for the water filtration system *just* fit and we’re able to access the filter cartridges from the outside to change them. Here’s a video of it from the outside:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/nnKTCkJrJn11Z5KR7
Before closing up the counter, Greg made some changes to the plumbing system for water intake. We previously only had a gravity fill system. All water will now come in through what used to be the city water hookup. Greg put in a second pump and bypass valves. There’s a switch for the pump just inside the door so it’s easy to access when refilling. The old gravity fill line remains for us to add bleach to the tank but all water going into the tank will be filtered first. It’s overkill but it’ll be filtered again when it’s pulled from the tank before going to the sink or shower. This camper sat a while with the old owner and who knows if he ever cleaned the tanks. We’ve cleaned them but bacteria can still grow inside and we just decided the possible overkill of double filtering was worth the piece of mind
Here’s a before and after shot before the counter went in:
I was pretty elated when we were finally able to install the counter and be done with the diesel system!
Obviously there’s no stove in-built. We’ll be using a portable induction cooktop. If the diesel cooktops weren’t so expensive, we probably would have put one in but seeing it now, I love all the counter space we have.
In the middle of all this, we also put in a Froli Sleep System to lift up a new mattress and allow airflow underneath. We also laid down a layer of reflextix underneath.
Now we’re moving on to storage because it’s seriously lacking for full time living. We’re removing the old “hampers” on each side of the mattress. The current ones leave a space between them and the mattress which is useless and just collects junk. So we’re making new hampers for under the windows that will go right up to the mattress on both sides and we’re also adding closets for some hanging clothes.
Old boxes:
Removed:
The “nightstands” will be removed too. There’s so much wasted space currently:
We’re making everything out of PVC and aluminum. It’s lightweight and keeps with the camper being completely wood free which is important to us. Granted, it costs more than building with wood and takes a bit longer too but we think the pros outweigh the cons. I only got one shot of them going in last weekend, I’ll get some more this weekend.
Other storage projects that are starting involve the 2 closets in the living area. This closet is so deep it’s impossible to keep it organized and access things so we’ll be building a pull out for it.
This closet drives me insane! The doors are so small you can’t get anything in there and using it for hanging clothes seemed like a poor use of the space. So, we’ll be removing the door and the partition in the middle and making one that is full size with an acrylic mirror on it. Then we’ll make a storage system likely with some pulls outs again.
Whew! When I write it all up, it does seem like a lot! At least it finally feels like we’re making progress
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). We just have to cut out for the sink
