Watertank Cover

 

The new watertank cover is finished and installed. I'm very pleased with it. 

stained cabinets

 

Ceiling work and a Small Shelf

I know we have been doing things backwards. It is best to do the ceiling first before adding everything else in. But you know, when you are doing things as you go, on a budget and dont feel like tearing everything out, this is what you get.

While the ceiling above the bed was finished first, the ceiling in the midsection of the van has been still quite raw. When we built the van, the bed went in first. We travelled down to Spain and experienced some cold nights in France. Condensation dripped down from above onto our faces in the middle of the night. So needless to say, insulating the ceiling above us was a giant priority.

 

This area is being simplified because I'm going to build a 12volt center near the kitchen. I continue to like the solar controller there because I like watching it. I can turn off the power out from it. It is a 30 amp system, so it can handle the little red power inverter. 30amps X 12 volts = 360 watts. It is a 500 max watt inverter which is supposed to only use 400 continuous. I only use it for recharging laptops and other low-draw items. It is also used to recharge phones. The four USB bank is nice.

So now we have two more cork panels installed and a small shelf where we can put a few items.

More Cabinet Doors

Two more sets of doors have been made and installed. I haven't stained them yet, as I am out of stain. I wanted to get them installed though, mostly to get them off the dining table.

The kitchen looks so much better now. No more messy cabinets to look at, and now they can get filled to the top and stuff won't fall out. There is still a metal bar across the bottom to hold things in, but now it can be packed even higher if need be.

 

DIY 200 Watt 12 volt Solar Power System "The Minimalist" Beginner Tutorial

Will Prowse started my education in solar power. This was the first set up I made.  I then upgraded to something bigger, but this was my first set up. Thanks go to Will and his easy to understand Youtube channel.

Cheap Chinese Diesel Heater fun

These things are everywhere on Youtube, so I'm not going to repeat all that stuff...

BUT

I will let you laugh at me when it turns on the first time.

 

Kitchen Upgrade photos

The final left side cabinet in the kitchen. Need to make the next ones that go to the right

Under the fridge is the cabinet that holds our grey water tank and some dog food supplies.

I think it's gonna look great when the right side doors are added!

But as you can see... it's still a nice, messy van.

She is functional, not instagramable!!

I love her! She is a outdoorsman's dream.

Woodburning new cabinet doors

Two new kitchen cabinets for above the sink. Will be stained after the image is complete.

 

Back of the seat storage

Hera the van has been on several trips over the late summer. Here you can see the storage

I've installed on the back of the seats. Two old jean legs have been made into pockets. Tools

get velcro'd on. This way they are easy to hang back up and remove and re-arrange.

 

Staining More Wood

I decided the doggie door needed to be stained. I like it much better.

 

Over The Bed Window

This morning I made a hole above the bed for our window. I've been planning this for weeks, but kinda scared to do it. I've finally watched enough YouTube videos to feel comfortable doing it. Right now it's drying. I've put oil based paint over the raw metal edges to seal them against rust in the future. Soon I'll pop in the Seitz window, purchased used for 35 bucks off Marktplaats. A new one is near 400 euros(about 430 US dollars).  

To Stain or Not to Stain

Here is the inside view of the new doggie door. I have to saw the corner off the wood piece that makes the door latch, but that is easy. Then I need to decide if I'm going to stain the door. I probably should. It's just work I dont want to do this week.

Doggie Door for Hera

Some new things have been happening with Hera, slow upgrades. The Wanderer 10A solar contoller didn't burnout, but it did screw up it's programing and stopped functioning well. It said my solar panel was 24v, drained my battery and half the digital panel died. I ordered another Renogy product, the 40A Rover to replace it. Of the 30A-40A controllers, it seemed to be one of the cheapest. I decided to go bigger incase I want to upgrade some things in the future.

As you can see above, the new doggie door is installed. It locks from the inside. The doggies can now roam the van while I have the door open for ventilation. I want to install one more hinge on it, but for now, it works great.

Another weekend in Drenthe, Netherlands

We found a cute little place to park. The forest area this parking lot leads to is filled with grave mounds.

This is one of those situations where I'm glad Hera is such a normal size. If she was a big RV or camper, she would not fit here at all.

Parking on the end gave us a little place to pull out a chair if we wished for a cup of coffee.

This is the hunebed D11

This is part of the war memorial built to reflect the Neolithic hunebedden in the area.

Installing the new fridge

Our new Dometic CombiCool RC2200 has been installed on a sliding out shelf.

it has just enough room underneath it for our black water tank. The sink and stove backsplash tiles still need to be reinstalled.

At the same time, I have built a footrest for when the front seats are rotated backwards. The seats are a bit too high to be comfortable. This footrest has a hole in it to be a cubby for shoes. It will get stained shortly.

The gas hose to the stove now has to be lengthened. I'll do that tomorrow. I'm tired and have sawdust in my pants. Time to pour a cup of tea, watch some news and probably take a nap.

Camping Drenthe

Weather is getting nice here in Netherlands. Our family started isolating ourselves early- a week earlier than it was called by the government. To combat isolation blues, we have taken the dogs to "hondenuitlaatplatsen" (places you can let your doggies roam free). We took our dogs down to Drenthe and spent the night at a lovely camper-park. We isolated farther away from the other two campers there.

Our campervan Hera has been such a joy in these times! gives me something to do and someplace to go away from other humans. She's awesome.

Electric system upgrades

Our electric system was very simple before: a 48ah battery, a 20 amp solar charge controler and a 100 watt solar panel. It was enough to keep our phones and laptops going on our trip to Spain.

But now, I wanted more, so I can run a 12volt fridge. I have ordered a new fridgebox from amazon.de, but it was damaged in route and after waiting a number of days, I was able to get a refund and reordered the new fridge box. 

This time I'm mounting everything where it's easy to see and keep an eye on. I know it looks messier than if it was in a specific cabinet for it, but this allows me to watch it. The new 180ah battery is secured under the bed and is wired up through a gap along the wall. The solar controller is above on the top cabinet. The new diesel heater controller will be installed there as well.

I continue to use the same 400 watt inverter because we do not use anything over 100watts at at time. I'm using the same 20 volt solar controller but I've added an additional 100 watt flexible solar panel that is stored in the van unless I need it. It has a long cord and can be brought out when needed on cloudy days to assist the main solar panel. I've added more fuses. Can never have too many fuses.

Kitchen Remodel

This week I've torn the kitchen apart to saw into the steel shelf system so that a giant water tank can get installed. The water tank is HUGE.. way bigger than I wanted and probably more water than I never needed, but since it was a steal at 30 bucks, I am thrilled to have it. Many of these water tanks cost over 200 dollars or more (some over a thousand that are custom molded to fit specific van models or RV models) It is installed indoors so that it wont freeze up in winter, though I dont plan on camping much in cold weather anyway.

My cabinet skills are improving. I've made a kitchen cabinet to hold the portopotty. It cost a total of 12 euros for the sheet of birch plywood. I reused the white table hinges that were 15 bucks for the set. The top was a former table made of pine, about 10 bucks. There is a drawer on the top that stays in with an old spring I found in the garage. The bottom cabinet has recycled hinges. It's nothing fancy, but it's also perfect.

Here is the awesomely huge water tank.  Yeah... industrial size to say the least

From the outside of the van, you can see that the little cabinet fits right over the new diesel heater I'm installing. I like having the heater where I can see it. Maybe one day when I get used to running it I wont like it in that spot, but for now the location is fine. The intake is on the step and the heated air goes up into the bed through a tube and will deliver hot air to the middle of the van. The new 180ah battery has also been deposited under the bed and will be hooked up soon to the solar set up. 

One step at a time!!