My new E-350 Extended van

[coultergeist]

<p>The regular dome lights in the van weren't really enough in the kitchen area, so I decided to put in a light fixture under the overhead cabinet.&nbsp; I adapted a fluorescent fixture to go there.&nbsp; I removed the ballast and tube sockets.&nbsp; I kept the switch and wired it to four small LED panels in the area where the fluorescent tube was.&nbsp; It worked out pretty well.&nbsp; It is really bright.&nbsp; <br><br>The first picture shows the wiring modification.&nbsp; The second is the light on at night.&nbsp; It is the only thing on in the vehicle.&nbsp; It illuminates the area really well.&nbsp; Could probably just use this light by itself most of the time.&nbsp; The last picture is of the power strip I put in for the cabinet lighting.&nbsp; The kitchen counter light is the only thing wired to it now, but it will serve as a junction point for all the interior cabinet lighting when it gets installed.&nbsp;</p>

 

[coultergeist]

This shows some more of the cabinetry done.&nbsp; I pretty much finished framing out the cabinet area between the kitchen and bed area.&nbsp; I am working on getting all the panels cut and finsihed now, but you should have a pretty good idea of how it will look.&nbsp; The lower compartment on the left is for the camping potti.&nbsp; There will be a door that hides it.&nbsp; Above that is two drawers.&nbsp; The drawers are done, but I am waiting on the drawer fronts to dry before I put them in.&nbsp; Above that is the clothes closet.&nbsp; It will have a door as well.&nbsp; On the bottom right is the air conditioner compartment.&nbsp; It will have a door that holds it in place.&nbsp; It will vent out of the bottom of the van.&nbsp; That is another days project.&nbsp; Above it will be a cabinet with adjustable shelving.&nbsp; On the very top will be a panel that the dvd player will sit on.&nbsp; Most of the panels are cut.&nbsp; It will be a day or two before they are dried out and able to be installed.&nbsp; I will update the pictures of this area when they are installed.&nbsp; It will look much different when they are in place.&nbsp;

 

[Cold Brian]

Your conversion really looks like it is coming along nicely. Great job so far!

 

[coultergeist]

These pictures show some of the electrical work done.&nbsp; I decided to go with a power panel for campers with this van.&nbsp; It has slots for 120 volt a/c&nbsp;circuit breakers and a spot for 12v fuses.&nbsp; It is pretty simple and compact and easy to wire.&nbsp; It comes in a 30 amp version and a 50 amp version.&nbsp; I ordered the 30 amp version, but they mistakenly sent me the 50 amp version.&nbsp; I didn't want to go through the hassle of returning it and getting a replacement one, so I looked to see if it would make a difference.&nbsp; <br><br>Turns out the 50 amp connector used on rv's is the same connector used on most modern stoves.&nbsp; The cord is readily available at any Lowe's or Home Depot.&nbsp; Also receptacles for it are pretty inexpensive.&nbsp; It is also easier to wire than you might think.&nbsp; I found a new 50 amp cord for a stove at a yard sale for $1.&nbsp; <br><br>I was trying to decide how I wanted to do the connection of the inverter into the system.&nbsp; I wanted to be able to plug into shore power when available as well.&nbsp; I decided on a simple setup.&nbsp; <br><br>I wired the 50 amp power cord into the power panel.&nbsp; I then intalled a separate 50 amp receptacle at the rear of the under-bed compartment.&nbsp; There is a cord attached to this outlet that will plug into the inverter.&nbsp; When I am using inverter power (which will be most of the time), the 50 amp cord from the power center will plug into the rear receptacle, thus joining it to the inverter.&nbsp; When I am using shore power, the cord will be unplugged from the receptacle and plugged into the extension cord coming in from shore power.&nbsp; This way, it should be pretty safe with no possible way to accidentally have shore power and inverter power connected at the same time.<br><br>The other picture is of the black cable organizers that will be used to run the remainder of the wiring.&nbsp; It will keep it up and off the floor, but easy to pull out if needed for repairs or if I need to add new lines.

 

[coultergeist]

Thanks Cold Brian.&nbsp; It is finally starting to pick up a little speed.&nbsp; Rain keeps interfering, but I think I am making pretty good progress.

 

[rokguy]

<EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">Hi Coultergeist,</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">Great conversion your doing, looks good.</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">Just a thought did you&nbsp;keep a&nbsp;hand pump feed to your sink from the water tank as well ? Just asking as I met a couple of yachties who relied on&nbsp;a pressure water system until&nbsp;a pump failed at sea (water boondocking)&nbsp;it left them&nbsp;sitting on 300 gals of water with no way of getting&nbsp;it out.</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">Again great&nbsp;van conversion mate</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">Geoff</SPAN></STRONG></EM>

 

[coultergeist]

Thanks Geoff. I really appreciate the interest. I have the pieces, but I haven't ran all the water lines yet. At the moment it is being set up for either city water or 12v pump fed. I have thought about a manual backup of some sort. Haven't settled on a good way to make it happen. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. At the very least I could carry an extra pump as a running spare.

 

[rokguy]

<EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">Hi Coultergeist,</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">&nbsp;I would simply have a T piece (you don't need a fancy one pictured below) in your water outlet pipe near the tank, one pipe going to your 12v pumped tap outlet the other going to a hand pump outlet (dont forget a check valve in the lines) stops water running back down into your tank. I use these handpumps one on a yacht one in my truck. <BR><BR>I hope this is of some help to you.<BR><BR>Cheers Geoff</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><BR><IMG class=bbc_img src="http://a248.e.akamai.net/origin-cdn.volusion.com/efxjc.dkzym/v/vspfiles/photos/2245-1.jpg?1353513360" rel="lightbox">&nbsp;<IMG class=bbc_img src="http://a248.e.akamai.net/origin-cdn.volusion.com/efxjc.dkzym/v/vspfiles/photos/2252-1.jpg?1353513360" rel="lightbox">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <IMG class=bbc_img src="http://a248.e.akamai.net/origin-cdn...kzym/v/vspfiles/photos/B1237-1.jpg?1353513360" rel="lightbox">&nbsp;&nbsp; <BR>&nbsp; <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>

 

[coultergeist]

Thanks for the ideas Geoff. I will have to see if I can incorporate that into the design. I like your galley. Looks like a nice neat layout with very efficient storage. Gave me an idea or two that I might have to borrow.

Thanks, Patrick.

 

[coultergeist]

I worked on the cabinet with adjustable shelves over the last several days.&nbsp; <br><br>I started by using a router to cut channels into two 3/4 inch thick panels of wood.&nbsp; These are the channels the shelves will slide into.&nbsp; After I mounted the two panels, I installed two shelf supports that extend all the way to the window behind the cabinet.&nbsp; These will be part of the behind the cabinet storage area that will be accessed from the bed area.&nbsp; I didn't want any space to go to waste.&nbsp; I will post pictures of that when it is complete.<br><br>I also added a hidden storage compartment under the bottom shelf in the cabinet.&nbsp; It is about 9 by 12 inches.&nbsp; It is 3 1/2 inches deep.&nbsp; It will hold valuables that I want kept out of sight.&nbsp; <br><br>The weather is suppose to be pretty nice this weekend.&nbsp; I'm hoping to completely finish the area between the kitchen and the bed that I've been working on for several weeks now.&nbsp;

 

[coultergeist]

I worked on the bed area mainly over the weekend.&nbsp; I got the pieces cut to surface the bed top.&nbsp; It took alot of stain to finish those up, almost half a can.&nbsp; While that was drying, I worked on my mattress.&nbsp; I was going to purchase a 5 inch foam full size bed mattress from K-mart, but I realized I didn't need to.&nbsp; I had two 3 inch foam mattresses from an old popup camper that was in an accident.&nbsp; The covers on them were in super bad shape, but the foam was fine.&nbsp; I layered them together and then put a layer of memory foam on top of them.&nbsp; The picture is of the three layers together.&nbsp; I then bought a zippered waterproof mattress cover and used it to cover all three pieces together.&nbsp; All together, it is about eight inches thick and is pretty comfortable.&nbsp; It fits in the bed area nice and snug.&nbsp; I haven't taken any pictures of it in the van yet.&nbsp; I still need to run alot of wiring and water lines before I put the bed top pieces on permanently.

 

[coultergeist]

I worked on the small storage shelves behind the cabinet with adjustable shelves today.&nbsp; They are the two shelves on the right side in the picture.&nbsp; The white thing is the side of the air conditioner.&nbsp; It will be covered by a panel and won't be visible from the bed area.&nbsp; The two shelves will be accessable only from the bed area.&nbsp; I still have to put the back on them, but this should give a good idea of what they will look like.&nbsp;

 

[coultergeist]

I also got the door for the clothes closet put on.&nbsp; These two pictures show the two main doors on.&nbsp; The rest will have to wait until the wiring that goes behind this area is done.

 

[coultergeist]

Getting each panel of wood stained and urethaned takes a full day of drying time, so I try to work off smaller things while I'm waiting on the coats to dry.&nbsp; <br><br>I&nbsp;have the microwave securely attached to the shelf now.&nbsp; I ended up using two different kinds of brackets to secure it.&nbsp; The first picture shows the right side bracket.&nbsp; The other picture shows the left side bracket.&nbsp; There is a third bracket on the back that is like the one on the left side.&nbsp; The three together hold it very well.&nbsp; <br><br>I think all the brackets together were about $5.&nbsp; I did have to drill a hole in the left and back bracket so it would line up properly with the screw in the microwave.

 

[coultergeist]

This is the small panel above the closet door.&nbsp; It will serve as the main switch panel for the vehicle.&nbsp; The blue inserts are four gang outlet boxes.&nbsp; The left side box will be for 120 volt ac wiring.&nbsp; The right side will be for 12 volt dc wiring.&nbsp; <br><br>I will mainly use the type switch you see in the second picture.&nbsp; It will allow me to control three circuits per slot in the outlet box.&nbsp; There are four slots per box, so I will be able to control a maximum of twelve 120 volt loads and an equal number of 12 volt loads.&nbsp; <br><br>That sounds like alot, but my goal is to have every 120 volt receptacle and every 12 volt receptacle switched.&nbsp; That way, I can turn off anything not needed and have absolute control over how much power is being used.&nbsp; It will also put all the switches in one central place that is easy to get to, yet out of the way.&nbsp; <br><br>I had to order the switches.&nbsp; They were $14 each locally.&nbsp; I found them online for around $4 each.&nbsp; I am hoping they will get here by this weekend and I can really make a big dent in the wiring.&nbsp;

 

[coultergeist]

I also put my DVD player shelf door on today.&nbsp; It is hinged to open downward.&nbsp; That way I can open it and leave it open when I am using the player and I&nbsp;should be able to use the remote from the bed or the main area of the van.&nbsp; <br><br>Having it and the switch panel in place really make the upper part of the cabinet area look alot nicer.&nbsp; Hoping to get all the rest of the panels in place this weekend if the switches show up.&nbsp; Most of the rest can't be put on until&nbsp;the majority&nbsp;of the wiring is done.&nbsp; <br><br>The cabinet on the other side should go much faster.&nbsp; It is just wood working.&nbsp; There will be an outlet or two over there, but everything else is pretty straight forward.

 

[coultergeist]

Trying to get a bunch of panels cut and finished today.&nbsp; In the mean time, I worked on getting the fridge secured.&nbsp; This ended up being a little more of a pain than I thought it would be.&nbsp; I've been putting it off for a while, but it is now finally done.&nbsp; <br><br>Basically, it is secured at four points.&nbsp; I didn't want it to have any possibility of it coming loose in an accident or rough driving.&nbsp; <br><br>The first picture shows the front two mounts.&nbsp; One of these is on each of the top front corners of the fridge.&nbsp; These were a real pain to screw in as there was very little room to work with between the fridge and the bottom of the stove above it.&nbsp; <br><br>The second picture shows the rear mounting points.&nbsp; I drilled a hole in each side of the metal bracket at the bottom of the fridge.&nbsp; Then measured and drilled corresponding holes through the wood support that the fridge sits on.&nbsp; Used a four inch bolt to secure the two together.&nbsp; Between it and the front it should be plenty of support to keep it from moving.<br><br>The third picture is the bracket and bar that will secure the door and keep it from opening during travel.&nbsp; It just slides into place and gravity holds it there.&nbsp; It started out life as a latch for utility trailers.&nbsp; I had to remove a pin and spring to get it like it is now, but it will do a very good job I think.

 

[coultergeist]

I put the bed top pieces on today so I could do some measurements for other things; plus it makes a great shelf to work from.&nbsp; I took a few pictures of it while it is in.&nbsp;

 

[coultergeist]

The switches I ordered showed up today, so I will get started on my wiring in a serious way.&nbsp; I think I was lucky this morning.&nbsp; I bought a sensar III antenna today at a yard sale from a man who had changed out his for a different antenna on his rv.&nbsp; He kept the power adapter, but those are pretty cheap on ebay.&nbsp; I got it for $20.&nbsp; If it works, it should be a good find for the conversion.&nbsp;

 

[ccbreder]

12 volt DC devices pull more amps the AC. Check that your switches will handle the amps. Also switching DC can cause arc resulting in switch contacts burning becoming higher resistance. Ignition points used a condenser to counter act this arcing.<br><br>Thanks again for all your information, we all learn together.