Off-grid, full time truck camper (re) build journal - Driven to Adventure

racer3822

Observer
I understand that and was part of the reason I chose to do my build that way. It's always the argument here of building custom and using it in 5 years or modifying existing and using it today. I've told my wife that something I want to do in my lifetime is build a custom rig, but I'll be keeping my existing one while I do it!

My truck camper always has some project in the works. The cool thing is I can do the work and get the reward of using it after the projects done. Just so happened cold whether last weekend really pushed me to get another heating setup as my camper isn't insulated well I've found over the years and I have to make that up in fuel. Will go through a bottle of propane in 3 days if the heats on high, its pretty bad.
 

zb39

Adventurer
Wow, that is a ton of propane. My Host does not use anywhere near that...I would start adding insulation like crazy!
 
Finally, an update!

Installing the furnace has not been straight forward. Due to the lack of space, we had to take a detour and configure our water filtration system.

Spoiler: after all the setbacks detailed later in this post, we finally have heat! We slept in the camper last weekend and with an outside temp of 18F, we maintained 69F inside! Unfortunately, I don’t have info on power or diesel consumption yet as we don’t have monitoring hooked up yet.

Proof of heat video
https://photos.app.goo.gl/33Fa7PKzfYE8szxU8

Here is what the area under the sink looked like once we removed the water heater:
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It was difficult to find a place to fit the standard 3 canister system and the additional pump. Eventually Greg came up with a sliding track made out of 80/20 where we can access and change the filter through the new door (where the old water heater door was).
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Door from the outside
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Here is a quick video showing how we’ll change the filter cartridges
https://photos.app.goo.gl/qeNzuT4a1kLRX28GA

Greg built a wall separating the water filtration system from the blower to mount the sliding system to.
edccd949f82a2e5beaebb12d5db776fe.jpg


Additional water pump and assorted valves installed
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Blower and ducting. The blower is actually split off 3 ways although you can only see 2 in this photo. One duct comes out below the shower at the far end of the camper, the other directly in front of it across from the dinette and the third in the cab over bed area.
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ISSUES:
First off, the electric element (the VBK heater) we installed did not work. Thanks to some feedback we received on another thread, we’re going to make changes to that part of the system to be able to use shore power instead of diesel when available. More on that later.

Next, we had a heck of a time wiring things up. Turns out, the wiring diagrams that shipped with our kit were old! Once we got the updates ones, things moved on pretty quickly.

The old propane system pumped heat into the basement area to help heat the tanks. Although the camper came equipped with tank heaters, we had to limit their use due to power consumption. So, this weekend we’re adding a second Kalori blower under the fridge (where the old furnace was housed) and ducting it into the basement.

We have not tested the hot water part of the system yet. We’re hoping that we can get that tested this weekend. Fingers crossed! Our new countertop finally arrived (actually it arrived 3 weeks ago but it was wrong and had to be reordered ). We just have to cut out for the sink
736ecad669ce3220545f8dca9f0d14bf.jpg


So things are moving slower than we’d like but they are moving!



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racer3822

Observer
COol update. Who did your access door for the filter change?

It seems all this custom stuff always takes 5x longer to do than it seems it should.
 

Darwin

Explorer
So is it correct your heat is hydronic? If so I have always wondered how it compared to the air heaters.
 

CSG

Explorer
Heckuva project! In 1992, my wife and I hit the road in our '89 Lance Squire 4000. Totally stock save for some shelving I added in a couple of cabinets. While our full-time trip was open ended, we lasted about six months. Good luck on your travels but get to them ASAP!
 
Thanks! We're determined to leave in April even though we know our to-do list won't be anywhere near done. That's life, right? The big items - heat, hot water, solar, composting toilet - will be done and that's enough. We can do the rest on the road as we want to. If we put this adventure off until everything as perfect, we'd never leave!
 
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.
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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
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Here’s a before and after shot before the counter went in:
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I was pretty elated when we were finally able to install the counter and be done with the diesel system!
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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.
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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:
d3fffe3ddb6dd45a3a081f009485f7f4.jpg


Removed:
41a48323451791cf3163dc77f171cb36.jpg


The “nightstands” will be removed too. There’s so much wasted space currently:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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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racer3822

Observer
Wow thats a huge update!! I've been thinking of the Froli Sleep System and running some air from the heater under the mattress too, so funny to see your build mirroring so many ideas, except you've done them!

Where did you get your Flori from? Have you tried it with the mattress yet? I have a tempurpedic mattress and am curious if it'll make a difference with how it sleeps too.

I am eventually going to hydroponic heating and part of the build was trying to simplify it so my wife doesn't have to open a cabinet and turn all kinds of valves. Was going to use 12v actuated valves and a control panel. If your husband is building a PLC for voltage I'm sure some wiring for valves would have been easy as pie, so wondering if there a reason he didn't use electronic valves? Not a criticism but trying to learn.
 

grizzlyj

Tea pot tester
Nice build :)
I've been putting a hydronic Espar in an external box on our start from an empty box camper and it has still taken a loooong time! Just getting it mounted with air and water in and out, wiring loom, fuel etc etc have taken bits from 19 different suppliers on top of the Espar stuff. Have you put some sort of filter on the air inlet? I'm not sure if it needs one, or even of it impeeds the air flow, but I wouldn't want bugs getting in!
Rather than blown air under our mattress I aim to run a 16mm water pipe zig zagging underneath, so extra heat when the valve is opened but no fan noise. I'm assuming that the heat will circulate the air anyway, and we have Froli under one mattress too. I aim to do the same around our starter batteries, maybe you could do that into your "basement" whatever one of those is :) I also went with two fan heaters so I can run both on low and hopefully get a similar output to one on high with less noise. I hope, not in yet! And too much zigzagging and extra pipe might just be too much for the water pump, I might have to restrict the supply on the other bits of the circuit for hot water to do that. We'll see.
Do you have something like a service kit for the Espar? And all the fault codes for yours? With the type of controller you can override and clear them? That in my opinion is a kind of essential if you don't, or it locks after a few errors requiring a dealer. This site has some good general background info on many types that might be of help? https://www.letonkinoisvarnish.co.uk/eberspacher_intro_1.html no connection etc, and only a kind of hobby for them.
 
Wow thats a huge update!! I've been thinking of the Froli Sleep System and running some air from the heater under the mattress too, so funny to see your build mirroring so many ideas, except you've done them!

Where did you get your Flori from? Have you tried it with the mattress yet? I have a tempurpedic mattress and am curious if it'll make a difference with how it sleeps too.

I am eventually going to hydroponic heating and part of the build was trying to simplify it so my wife doesn't have to open a cabinet and turn all kinds of valves. Was going to use 12v actuated valves and a control panel. If your husband is building a PLC for voltage I'm sure some wiring for valves would have been easy as pie, so wondering if there a reason he didn't use electronic valves? Not a criticism but trying to learn.

Hey! Good question! I actually didn’t know the answer so I had to ask him lol! He said right now it’s just a matter of cost but it’s something he may upgrade to in the future :)


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