Van camper! Pre-flight checks & van tour

Tour of my camper van conversion before it hits the road. There are probably lessons to be learned and improvements to be made along the way, but I'm pretty happy with this as a starting point.
The interior is very basic, as the idea is that it's supposed to be relatively quick to empty this out and use it as a work van during the winter. Nothing is bolted down, only strapped. Sadly, this prevents useful cupboards, etc. to be installed easily.
Filmed 2016-08-16
Patreon - support the soon-to-be adventures at / ffcossag
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[@uxwbill]

I really like the way it's come together. I got a chuckle out of the one tool box labeled as a "nerd box". Good luck and safe travels.

[@FFcossag]

Thanks. The nerd box is the one that holds no less than three different soldering stations, an IR thermometer and more little electronicy bits than you can count.

[@lanceguilin]

good luck... safe travels... have fun!

[@FFcossag]

Thank you.

[@nerdywolfi]

Have a safe journey!

[@FFcossag]

Thank you.

[@danielelise7348]

That's a cosy little setup ya got there Mate,have a good trip,take care

[@FFcossag]

Thank you.

[@craignehring]

Adventure... looks like your all set. BTW are you packing a fire extinguisher? (you know me the mother hen)

[@FFcossag]

Yes I am. And a smoke detector strategically placed under the bed.

[@CrashedDreams534]

Thats about it done right and i dont think you will run out of juice anytime soon

[@SudosFTW]

Have a good trip. You're likely on your way now by the time you're reading this, but best wishes on your journey. hopefully you packed some stuff safely away to take to HPC if that goes through. if in your travels you get the chance, I'd suggest getting one of those massive like 18-litre water coolers to keep around too with some water inside. easy to refill, easy to strap away. put it in a friend's fridge and you have cold water for maybe a day... rhyme unintended. handy as hell as well, instead of keeping around a gallon of water or something in a jug that can lose its cap at any time. Dunno if they sell water coolers of that size for cheap in Finland or any of the other surrounding countries you're going to. May have to check the local craigslist-like dealie for a good pickup along the way. but yeah! have fun, watch your budgeting, and have a good ol' time.

[@FFcossag]

I don't even want to know how much power something like that would draw. I'm keeping the fridge stuffed with mostly water for thermal mass anyway, so I'm likely to have cool water almost always.

[@erlendse]

I would suggest staying with compressor based coolers. They have better efficiency than peltier based coolers, and can usually work over a bigger temprature difference. as far as isolation goes, adding more is good, but should be improved to avoid blocking the hot side of the cooler.

[@FFcossag]

erlendse Compressor based coolers are obviously the best, but one of those would cost about as much as this entire build, including the van, lol.

[@SudosFTW]

no, not a powered one. I'm saying one you'd take to a sporting event full of some sports drink. seems to be the popular way to have a convenient water supply in a camper van.

[@erlendse]

+FFcossag I guess it's all about being creative then. I am sure you could build the box if you want to. Isolation is key! Finding something to take the compressor from is harder, unless you go for 230v (ripped from fridge). Most newer fridges use propane/butane as coolant, so should be doable with some research.

[@TheRealSasquatch]

It just occurred to me you could have easily fitted a split charge circuit and charged your batteries from the alternator whilst driving, with the Solar as a backup for when parked or camping.

[@FFcossag]

I might end up adding that along the way. I figured I'd try pure solar at first.

[@vincehair295]

can u shows the engine more/location. never seen a mid engine van here in n.a.

[@FFcossag]

Perhaps in the future. This van is just what happened when Nissan wanted to get rid of all their leftover Datsun 720 parts.

[@GadgetReviewVideos]

Did you ever think about running a PTC heater. It will draw less current, won't get hot enough to cause ignition of any gasses that may be released from charging batteries. And provide just as much heat probably. Not sure what the weather is like during your travels or how cold it might get but a PTC heater might be better option and safer, not use as much room, not that much cost and you probably could build your own also for less. Just an idea I thought I would share.

[@FFcossag]

A Watt is a Watt, a 650 W PTC heater would put out just as much heat as my old-timey thing. Mind you, my heater is not one of those radiating things, it has a fan in it. It's a bit of a moot point, though; I can't really run an electric heater unless I ABSOLUTELY need to. The batteries are not going to release any gas at all, unless something goes seriously wrong with my charge controller. That's the beauty of industrial gel cells.

[@charlesturner897]

sorry if you've already covered this, but how much roughly would you say it cost to put this together (excluding the cost of the kawaii vanette)

[@FFcossag]

~200 €, but I built everything from old trash.

[@charlesturner897]

FFcossag I'm not adversed to using old trash, I've also spent my life making random shit too, I think I'm going to give this a go when I finally get my first car

[@FFcossag]

Good luck, enjoy yourself.

[@zx8401ztv]

Bloody hell, sounds like you covered everything :-D. Two laptop supplies died together, thats odd, not enough heatsink on the mosfets perhaps?

[@FFcossag]

That's the odd thing, they died while sitting idle. I'm thinking they just didn't protect from back EMF out of the choke well enough.

[@jackeng1234]

great video, which video did you build the led light I couldn't find it?

[@FFcossag]

Here you go: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pJuXg3lqmr57gqM

[@jackeng1234]

+FFcossag thank you, enjoy your trip!

[@FFcossag]

Jack English Thanks.

[@fila1445]

next year try to make house inside your 205 :D