Category: Van build
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China Is About to Bury Elon Musk in Batteries
Interesting report from Bloomberg: as demand for Li-Ion batteries increases, we should expect to see affordable Li-Ion become much more widespread and available for other uses – such as portable power in camper vans, etc. While this is on the 5–10 year horizon, it’s interesting to keep tabs on. We’ve already seen a similar effect with GPS…
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Disconnecting the starter battery from the chassis on a RHD Sprinter
There are some good videos that show you how the standard electrics work on a Sprinter. Here’s one that opens up the distribution box on the house/starter battery. However, many videos and blog posts assume you have a left hand drive model. Even the manual – written in UK English – assumes you have a LHD…
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Testing the sound deadening mats
We installed some Silent Coat sound deadening mats on the van over the weekend. We weren’t really sure how effective they’d be at reducing road noise, body noise, or at stopping outside sounds from coming in and vice versa. So we tried a semi-scientific test, to at least get a sense of how they behave while…
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Sizing batteries and solar panels
One of the first steps in planning the electrical system is figuring out what size battery and solar panels we need. That depends on a few key factors, which will vary for everyone. In our case, they are: Price: we are price-sensitive! Level of luxury / number of appliances: we don’t want a TV, microwave,…
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Wood selection for framing and cladding: do the math
I’m evaluating different materials for cladding the walls of the van, and for building frames and panels for furniture (bed, kitchen units, etc.) Commercial outfitters here in the UK use materials I find unappealing, whereas DIY convertors often stick to what they can find in the out-of-town DIY store. I’d like to weigh up –…
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Great design and build tour
There are many good van build videos on YouTube. But this is an exceptional one. It’s comprehensive (close to one hour long), and Lee, the van designer and builder, has clearly thought deeply about so many aspects of the design. It’s a great watch; he seems like a lovely guy, and his design philosophy, which…
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A one-week trial of vanlife. The good, the bad and the ugly.
This Easter, Amy and I hired a camper van to get a taste of vanlife. We recorded our throughts about what worked and what didn’t, and I’m sharing them here. I should stress that this focuses on the bad and the ugly (we were trying to learn lessons), but the trip was good.
Andrew Sleigh 