My lease ends in February

[FortWorthVanNoob]

I'll be going full time after my lease expires in February. I'm selling my car to buy a 15 passenger van to convert into my tiny apartment while I finish college at UTA for accounting. This is out of necessity but I've fallen in love with the idea of not paying someone else's mortgage and having the ability to live anywhere.

I've been scouring all of your posts and have found them invaluable to my decision making process. So thanks for that and feel free to poke holes in my plan and give advice.

The plan:

Buy a 15 passenger van for hopefully less than $7,000 that has 150 thousand miles or less and is post 1996 for the OBD2 requirement. Has to be a gasoline engine so the repairs won't break the bank. I'll be purchasing 2 × 225ah Trojan lead acid batteries that will be mounted underneath the van (somewhere under there) and will be attaching 4 × 68 watt unisolar self adhesive flexible solar panels to the roof. Hopefully I'll be able to find some as unisolar has gone out of business...

The reasoning behind lead acid is because it's cheaper then agm and gel. Why unisolar? Well... Fort Worth cops can be authoritarian at times and I don't want to give away my position with a big mounted panel that sticks a couple of inches of the roof.

I'll be following handy bobs solar guide for the wiring and the controller side of things. If anyone has a recommendation on and inverter I'm all ears otherwise I'll be going with a 2000 watt modified sine wave, probably cobra. As for the controller, Morningstar ts-45.

This is hot hot humid Texas so I'll be going with something akin to the MightyKool MK4 unit that uses and evaporative cooling pad as well and a heat exchange unit that uses ice from a 7 day cooler. If someone is able to point me towards a less expensive alternative, please do. But I do like the dual evaporative/ice system.

I'll have to cut a hole in the roof and put in a vent, looking for a stealthy version and not the ones you generally see on an RV.

I'll buy a twin bed from Sams club on the cheap, mattress only and hopefully build a swivel base that folds up to the side of the van for extra space. I want to keep a hallway from front to back of van.

I'll be using my tmobile 4glte phone to tether a laptop that will be in near constant use.

I'll need a desk and roll chair. I'm hoping I don't have to bolt most of this stuff down as I want to keep it easy to move out of the van if I had to, but it is what it is.

24 hour fitness for bathroom and shower and workout.

Mr buddy heater for winter, but I'm not gunna buy it yet because sometimes it's 90 degrees here in January. Bleh.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[riffraff]

Looks good from here. I can comment on the 24 hour fitness.. it's great. If you have any of the "super sport" locations around you, they seem to have the better showers with some degree of privacy. (not sure how important that is to you.. but it is to me)

I'm using a twin sized mattress I got at Costco and love it. It takes up a huge amount of space in my cargo van but I sleep very well at night. Made a simple frame that allows storage underneath it. The bed frame slid around a bit until I secured it to the floor.

I'm jealous of your phone. I have a MiFi for wireless internet with a 3 gig limit per 30 days. It's great for security (open wifi hotspots are ridiculously insecure) but I can't use it for any kind of streaming audio or video. For the heavy bandwidth stuff I rely on whatever free wifi I can get a hold of.

It's been over 90 degrees here in the SF bay area last 3 days. A heater is definitely a low priority at this time for me too =)

I think an ice cooler is a great investment.

 

[FortWorthVanNoob]

I couldn't survive on 3 gigs. I use 5-8gigs just on my phone. Probably another 30 gigs at home on my charter cable Internet plan. I just tested my up and down speeds for 4glte and it's around 36down 32up. Hopefully good enough for some late night gaming.

 

[Van-Tramp]

I think you may find the need for some downsizing, but otherwise the plan looks good.

1) Not sure you need 2000 watts of inverter. Why pay for that huge inverter and have that much waste if you are only powering 150 watts at any given time?
2) Millenicom is the only LTE supplier that I know of that allows any real amount of gigs in bandwidth. 20 to be exact and for $90 a month. If you know of another provide that allows unlimited for less, please let us all know.
3) Even with the batteries and panels, I doubt you will do much gaming. Even though your laptop is probably 150 watts (at best) at peak power, it will eat through your batteries pretty quick.

Van living will likely change your priorities, to conservation. Clean water and enough power will be the two biggest issues you will contend with any given day, besides not getting that middle-of-the-night-knock from your local LEOs which WILL know what you are doing within a few days of you starting.

Keep us up to date in your adventures.

 

[RustNever]

That sounds like a plan Cowtown New here myself. I always thought a Ymca ,or a health club membership could be a lifesaver if I ever started stealth commuting to work in Austin, If you join YMCA in Austin, you have a choice of like 7 different locations to clean up...Swim,Hot-tub ,Steam room, weights ,.Shoot

---

That sounds like a plan Cowtown New here myself. I always thought a Ymca ,or a health club membership could be a lifesaver if I ever started stealth commuting to work in Austin, If you join YMCA in Austin, you have a choice of like 7 different locations to clean up...Swin,Hottub ,Steamroom, weights Shoot

 

[FortWorthVanNoob]

Good point on the 4glte. Looks like I only get 3gbs of tethered connectivity under my plan and have to pay more money for more gigs. Looks like you can do it illegally if you root your phone but I don't want to go that far yet. I'll download a program on my home computer to see how many gigs I use the next 30 days with my normal usage.

As for the 2000 watt inverter your probably right.

Now with the laptop. I fortunately get to charge the laptop at work so it will have a full charge going into the van at night which may mitigate my power drain to some degree. I will use it for 5 hours a night if I keep up my current habits. No pun intended.

 

[cyndi]

Welcome to the CRVL forums! To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips & Tricks" post lists some helpful information to get you started. We look forward to hearing more from you.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Welcome

The only part of your plan that looks at all questionable to me is the part about mounting your Flooded Lead Acid batteries somewhere under the van.

You are going to need access to them at least monthly to check the water level. In really hot weather, perhaps oftener. Best if you have enough working room above them to not only add water, but also enough space to use a hydrometer. How were you planning to access them?

If you really just want to mount and forget, I'm afraid AGMs are the only way to go.

Regards
John

 

[FortWorthVanNoob]

Valid point and one that I'm definitely worried about. I'm aware I need to maintain the water level and that it would be a major pain to dismount the batteries every couple of weeks from underneath the van. My concern is fumes. Is there a simple way to keep them inside the van without drilling an extra vent? I would prefer not to pay for AGM style batteries.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Valid point and one that I'm definitely worried about. I'm aware I need to maintain the water level and that it would be a major pain to dismount the batteries every couple of weeks from underneath the van. My concern is fumes. Is there a simple way to keep them inside the van without drilling an extra vent? I would prefer not to pay for AGM style batteries.

Flooded Lead Acid batteries give off fumes that are both corrosive and flammable. If the batteries are inside the living space with you, they should be inside a box that will contain the fumes, then the fumes must be transferred from that box to the outside of the van. I'm having a hard time thinking of a way to accomplish that without cutting a vent in the van.

I've seen people re-purpose a Rubbermaid tote as the battery box, and Amazon sells a hose and vent purpose-designed for venting battery boxes. The fumes are lighter than air, so you have to cut an air intake hole at the bottom of the tote, and mount the exhaust hose towards the top. But one way or another, that hose has to lead outside.

The inflexibility of the laws of physics suck sometimes.

Regards
John

 

[FortWorthVanNoob]

I think I could make that work John. Since I'm going to have a top air vent with a fan anyways, why not have a small rubber hose leading from the battery container along the wall up to the ceiling and have it output right next to the fan. I've got to route power to the fan anyways so I could do both at the same time. I wonder if a small diameter hose the size of a power cord would be OK to use?

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

I don't really know the answer to that question. I can tell you that the commercial hose designed for that purpose for sale at Amazon is 13/16 in diameter.

It's designed as a stand alone answer. I don't know what effect the fan will have in the roof vent. Maybe increase the suction, maybe not. And what will happen when the fan isn't running?

Regards
John

 

[FortWorthVanNoob]

Good thinking...http://www.etrailer.com/Enclosed-Trailer-Parts/Ventline/VP-543SP.html is the vent I'm getting. Guess I'll just have to look at it when it arrives and figure out if it will work or not.

 

[FortWorthVanNoob]

I'm going to see this van tomorrow morning: http://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/cto/4658227709.html .

Any tips on what I should pay attention to? I'll look for obvious things like body damage and rust. I've never driven one of these before so I'm not sure what I should expect as far as how it should feel when I ride it and how it should sound etc...

 

[goforit]

A long time ago I read in this forum of a guy that had his acid battery mounted under his van. He made a trap door on the floor in order to access his battery easily. That might work for you too. Good luck

 

[concretebox]

I'm going to see this van tomorrow morning: http://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/cto/4658227709.html .

Any tips on what I should pay attention to? I'll look for obvious things like body damage and rust. I've never driven one of these before so I'm not sure what I should expect as far as how it should feel when I ride it and how it should sound etc...

Same things you would look for when buying any used vehicle. Take it to a shop for a pre-purchase inspection. Best $100 you'll ever spend, maybe less. Call some shops and ask how much for a used car inspection. If the seller doesn't like that idea, walk away.

You've got a plan for your conversion, have you priced it all out? What about the costs of regular maintenance on the van (tires, oil, belts, etc). Better make that part of your budget if you haven't already. Lookup the cost of new tires, they'll be a lot more than your average car tire.

That said, I wish you the best of luck. This life can be challenging, but rewarding!

 

[JamesStrangefello]

I'm going to see this van tomorrow morning: http://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/cto/4658227709.html .

Any tips on what I should pay attention to? I'll look for obvious things like body damage and rust. I've never driven one of these before so I'm not sure what I should expect as far as how it should feel when I ride it and how it should sound etc...

Hi and all the best to you on your adventure. If you didnt already here's a comprehensive checklist including your test drive for buying a used vehicle.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cm/popularmechanics/data/used-car-checklist.pdf

Also you can of course could and should arrange to have it privately inspected by a mechanic to get more insight. That's usually about $100, lots more for classics I found out :huh:
Anyways Id love to hear about how things are going with you and wish you all the best in your journey

 

[SoulRaven]

If you live or go to school in Arlington, check out this guy and get some input from him.

http://www.batterycenterinc.com/home.htm

His shop is near the stadiums and he is a nice guy. I bought Deka batteries from him, they came highly recommended. He can do installs or help you do it. Best prices I found and no shipping charges..

Live in Arlington myself, pm me if you need any help finding parts. Bob J.

 

[FortWorthVanNoob]

Thanks for everyone's input. I have seen a different van I like: http://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/cto/4624928086.html .

I test drove it and it seemed to run ok. 2 owner van. I'm having it checked out on Monday by a mechanic. I told him $3000 if nothing is wrong with it. It has rust spots on top, tiny but there are multiples. Front windshield has a long crack.

 

[Seraphim]

Reference the battery vent: our unit has enclosed boxes with inlet holes through the bottom of the unit, and about a 2" outlet hose from the top of the box to the side. If the boxes aren't sealed, our interior detector goes off when the batteries charge. Keeping the top vent cracked open also works.