Help! About to start build.. Need help/instructions on electrical and propane...

[Powder Hound]

I am about to start a build on a stripped E350 4x4... Super confident in all cabinetry and furnishings, not so confident on electrical and propane.. Looking for a good walk through, book, link to a build, hell anything at this point to get me started and some direction. Not looking to get fancy..

For propane just want an outside frame mounted tank hooked up to a 2 burner range and a catalytic heater....

For electrical nothing fancy either, just two batteries hooked up to some LED lights and with a AC converter with 2 outlets for the computer...

My main concern is where to locate the battery(s), making sure they are vented properly and charging off an issolator and if it's not too complicated maybe a shore power outlet to hook up to a generator...

The propane is just the cook range and heater.....


Any help is greatly appreciated...

Need to have this thing up and moving by November... Will have 3 weeks off to work on it... Will spend next Feb, Mar and April in it cruising around British Columbia snowboarding eventually making my way up to Haines, AK for a few weeks of Heli-Skiing....

Thanks!

[dwh]

In my camper van, there is a 5 gallon Manchester horizontal "van style" propane tank mounted to the frame under the sliding side door. The van style has the fittings lower on the tank, and has internal tubes that rise up to the top to be above the vapor line.

When I got the truck, I replaced the regulator with a new two-stage. Cost about 20 bucks.

From the regulator, there is a short - about a foot - rubber line with flare fittings on both ends that connects to 3/8" copper tubing. I replaced that too. Had the local propane yard make me up a new one. 15 bucks.

After that, it's all just copper tubing and flare fittings with a few tees to feed the stove and furnace on the starboard side, and the water heater and fridge on the port side.

Since it's all low-pressure after the regulator anyway, as long as the copper is strapped and doesn't rub anything, it will be fine. Or, at least is has been fine since the van was converted some time in the late '70s.

You could also use black iron gas pipe if you wanted.

[1sweetvan]

Just a word of caution. Don't use regular Teflon tape to seal pipe threads on a propane system. It will leak. Use a thread compound or tape made for propane use. Any RV store will have it.