Taking the Plunge!

[GoodWorksMedia]

Hello all!

Fellow vamper* here, or at least I want to be one.

A little bit about me and why I'm here.......

I graduated college last year in May of 2015 in Texas, traveled to Idaho for the summer and worked as a sound tech assistant for a major theater company up there, and then drove home to Cleveland to spend time with my family/save money on rent/assess my life post college. During those trips I either had to pay $50-$100 a night for a room or sleep on couches of relatives I've never met before. Speed was of the essence and I missed out on a lot of the beautiful scenery of West Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Idaho.

Fast forward to Jan 2015 and my theater degree along with my interest in videography/editing/photography has led me to a job as a Production Assistant. I work in reality television and help crews set up equipment and what not when they are in the local NE Ohio area. My first day on the job I found out that people who work in television get paid to travel a lot. One thing they don't do though.... is hire production assistants to travel. Production assistants are always locally hired, we are the lowest on the totem pole and we are cheap in comparison to the producers and everyone else.

However..... if a production assistant happens to travel on his own and he can work as a local, then the production companies will be more than happy to hire him....

Being the adventurous and free-spirited type that I am, I decided it was time to expand my region of workability and take it to the road.
My plan is to travel to the places where a show is shooting, work during the day, and then camp out in my van at night. At the end of the week i will head back to Cleveland, or just head out to the next shoot.


Usually the shows I work on aren't longer than a week, so my needs are pretty minimal in some respects. I will have access to food and water and really just need a shelter on my head along with some power to fun a small fan and possibly charge my computer/phone.

I'm going to start off somewhat minimalist and as I go out and experiment more I will evaluate and see what I can do to take it to the next level.
Currently I have a nice Dodge B250 conversion van my parents are letting me use. I can't make too many modifications right now in terms of pulling out seats to clear some room... however if things go well and they see it working, my dad will be pro-vamping in no time.

As of right now my main priority is having an auxiliary power source I can use for keeping the van cooled at night. I've been looking at and thinking two 6v golfcart batteries (in series????) with 232ah will be sufficient for three nights of keeping cool.
I've looked at the forums and have been checking out the battery specs and what not and so far that is where most of my questions lie.

But I would also like to hear from any other van campers and hear about their travels and where they have been. I am very much looking forward to this next stage of my life. If it works out I would love to consider going full time for a year on the road.

Happy travels!

J






Vamper - Van Camper - person who sleeps/camps in van for short excursions vs long term extended dwelling.

I don't know how other people posted their intro's, but I just wanted to paint a clear picture of what I'm planning to use my van for, and what I expect my immediate needs to be.

 

[RollinWOT]

Welcome Goodworks! Look like a solid vehicle. So do you have no personal vehicle, or just need something larger than what your own vehicle provides? Using two golf cart batteries is a good idea, but that will give you 12V on a series connection. You might as well get a 12V deep cycle marine battery a power inverter. That way you could use that to power what you need, and if you wire it into the van's electrical system, the van can charge the deep cycle battery while you drive. Another option I've seen used is a fold out solar panel(since you said you can't go crazy with mods). There's a company called Goal Zero that makes a product called the Sherpa. Its a fold-out solar panel that has an inverter built in and a USB port. So you could charge your phone/laptop on the go and have you deep cycle power your fans at night. Another way to keep cool is to get some vent visors for the winows to keep the cracked. If the van has sliding side windows, you can open them up as well. Good luck and cheers!

 

[GoodWorksMedia]

Welcome Goodworks! Look like a solid vehicle. So do you have no personal vehicle, or just need something larger than what your own vehicle provides? Using two golf cart batteries is a good idea, but that will give you 12V on a series connection. You might as well get a 12V deep cycle marine battery a power inverter. That way you could use that to power what you need, and if you wire it into the van's electrical system, the van can charge the deep cycle battery while you drive. Another option I've seen used is a fold out solar panel(since you said you can't go crazy with mods). There's a company called Goal Zero that makes a product called the Sherpa. Its a fold-out solar panel that has an inverter built in and a USB port. So you could charge your phone/laptop on the go and have you deep cycle power your fans at night. Another way to keep cool is to get some vent visors for the winows to keep the cracked. If the van has sliding side windows, you can open them up as well. Good luck and cheers!

Hey Rollin, 

Thanks! It is a sturdy beast, with sweet a comfy captains chair and a fold down bed to boot. 

I do have a personal vehicle, but it does not lend itself to sleeping in due to its dodge neon like size. 

I had thought about doing the 12v and keeping it charged via the van running, but am still searching through some questions regarding that method. I haven't figured out if running 100w of power all night would  1) drain the battery completely and how long would driving/recharging time take to replenish the battery? or 2) if the battery could even last all night in the first place leaving me with no fan/power.  I don't intend to be doing more than three to five days at a time, but ideally I would be parking nearby (<10 min) where I would be working, and thereby not driving as much. I suppose I could run the van, and just leave it on charging for a while, but that seems wasteful to me. 

Currently I have a 12v interstate battery hooked up to a 500w inverter. But I have yet to test it out as far as its run time so far. I plan on doing so this coming week when I fly back in to town. I will be driving from Detroit to Cleveland and planned on making an overnight pitstop or two as a test run. 

I liked the idea of golf cart batteries because they seemed to be rather sturdy and easy to make into a 12v source, and from what I've read and hardly understand the 232 amphours would allow it to go a night or two without charging*. It seemed like 20 hours would be enough power that I could go out for three nights and possibly be able to charge the batteries (if I were to gain access to an electrical source).

I like the idea of solar power and definitely plan on going that direction. But my thought process and budget lead me to think that I can at least start this excursion with a small investment of about $300 bucks into a battery bank that would get me by for now as a lone power source  but still be a resource for solar charging in the future. I figure I can find an outlet every now and then while on set for charging the batteries during the day. 

I do have the visors and the screens on the van. Some of them need a little TLC though, but the windows do give off a nice cross-breeze which I plan on utilizing, but I also don't want to be doing a #hotcarchallenge and not have any breeze in the middle of summer. Plus I already have a box fan so...it seemed reasonable.

I'm hopeful that I can make this a full time thing as I work my way up to being a camera man. If I'm traveling more, than I am working more, and that means experience, and more opportunities to get behind a camera when they let me.

Happy Travels!


My calculation being if 100Watts/12Volts = 8.3Amps then  232amphours/10 amps would mean 23 hours of power.  

 

[RollinWOT]

I'm not too huge into the electrical draws when I'm out. I usually don't boondock or anything. I mostly make do with a battery bank and that's about it. I'm usually only out for two-three days max anyhow. I don't have any fans or anything, I just try to park in an area that has a lot of cross winds and get as much airflow as possible. I'd love to get a portable solar pack and make as much of the AZ sun. I've seen people live out of much smaller cars than a Neon though. I'm sure the van is much more comfortable to sleep in, but I've seen it done before. If you can swing it, I'd suggest sleeping in you Neon-esque mystery car with everything you plan to bring. See how that goes for you. See what you can omit, what you really need, and then get an idea for what all you need to bring. Then when you get out there with your van, you can make sure you're not overloading the vehicle, which will give you better gas mileage and make you more comfy so you're not crammed in there with a bunch of stuff you don't need. Just spitballing ideas here Cheers!

 

[SoulRaven]

Greetings & Welcome!

Generally it is a good idea to try and keep everything 12v and skip the inverter. A small clip on 12v van should be able to run on low for many days between charges. Car cords are available for your phone, laptop, or most anything else you might need.

For charging your house battery, obviously the cheapest way is to charge it while driving, which most often is all I need. While some people seem to like solar for power, many others do not. I'll park in the shade in the summer. If I'm staying in one place long enough to need to recharge my house battery, I have a home built gas powered 12v generator. This under $100 generator is much cheaper than solar, and even when not charging while driving, it uses under 1 gallon of gas per month. I much prefer this method because it doesn't rely on the weather, and it can be used for so many more things. It can be outfitted to do anything that a much more expensive generator can do. You can run one of these generators for many many years for far cheaper than even the cheapest solar setup, but in my case it isn't about the money, it's about the reliability and the ability to park in the shade in the summer.

For the $300 you're thinking about spending on batteries, you could be set up with a full camper package, kitchen, bathroom w/toilet & shower, everything. Done right, everything can be kept portable, and some of us believe that a van should not be modified in any way other than possibly remove a seat or two.

 

[GoodWorksMedia]

I'm not too huge into the electrical draws when I'm out. I usually don't boondock or anything.  I mostly make do with a battery bank and that's about it. I'm usually only out for two-three days max anyhow. I don't have any fans or anything, I just try to park in an area that has a lot of cross winds and get as much airflow as possible. I'd love to get a portable solar pack and make as much of the AZ sun. I've seen people live out of much smaller cars than a Neon though. I'm sure the van is much more comfortable to sleep in, but I've seen it done before. If you can swing it, I'd suggest sleeping in you Neon-esque mystery car with everything you plan to bring. See how that goes for you. See what you can omit, what you really need, and then get an idea for what all you need to bring. Then when you get out there with your van, you can make sure you're not overloading the vehicle, which will give you better gas mileage and make you more comfy so you're not crammed in there with a bunch of stuff you don't need. Just spitballing ideas here Cheers!

The van is much more comfortable to sleep in than the car. I don't see the advantage of test running a trip living out of my car. That doesn't sound comfortable or seem useful. I can take the van out and test run off the van and I get the added comfort, plus the van is my intended long term vehicle to use for road trips out of state. What I have with me so far is a small cooler, a box fan, a tv table and a 4pack of fuel for running portable gas stove, my 12v battery and 500w inverter. Other than that there isn't much else to bring aside from the battery connections and extra tools for safety's sake.  I am shooting for a little bit of stealth, and imagine I might be sleeping in the parking lot of the same hotel my producer's will be using or, somewhere nearby location. 

Thanks for the ideas though, I don't mind burning a little extra fuel for the security and space that the van provides.

 

[GoodWorksMedia]

Greetings & Welcome!

Generally it is a good idea to try and keep everything 12v and skip the inverter.  A small clip on 12v van should be able to run on low for many days between charges.  Car cords are available for your phone, laptop, or most anything else you might need.

For charging your house battery, obviously the cheapest way is to charge it while driving, which most often is all I need.  While some people seem to like solar for power, many others do not.  I'll park in the shade in the summer.  If I'm staying in one place long enough to need to recharge my house battery, I have a home built gas powered 12v generator.  This under $100 generator is much cheaper than solar, and even when not charging while driving, it uses under 1 gallon of gas per month.  I much prefer this method because it doesn't rely on the weather, and it can be used for so many more things.  It can be outfitted to do anything that a much more expensive generator can do.  You can run one of these generators for many many years for far cheaper than even the cheapest solar setup, but in my case it isn't about the money, it's about the reliability and the ability to park in the shade in the summer.

For the $300 you're thinking about spending on batteries, you could be set up with a full camper package, kitchen, bathroom w/toilet & shower, everything.  Done right, everything can be kept portable, and some of us believe that a van should not be modified in any way other than possibly remove a seat or two.

Hey OffGrid! 

You mean you don't need an inverter when using a 12v battery? How do I go about plugging in my laptop and phone then? I plan on running some cabling from the alternator to the battery in the very near future. Obviously that is the best and cheapest way and probably an easy modification my dad won't mind me putting on the van. I will definitely look in to using a little generator and running off of that for a short while to charge the batteries as well. That's a great place to look that I had not really considered.

If I don't have to spend the $300 dollars on batteries, then I'm sure it will go in to some of the future modifications. Currently I am not too worried about installing a kitchen/shower/toilet situation. I intend on being out and working during the day, so for the most part bathroom's won't be hard to come by, along with the meal that is always provided by the company. As for showers, I will be working with producers who are also on the road a lot so they generally are kind enough to offer their hotel shower up for use, as far as I am concerned a water bottle and a sponge would do fine enough for short trips. If I decide to commit full-time to the van, then I will end up purchasing a gym membership since I imagine most of my work will occur in or around a city that will have one. And I will have access to the gym and the shower. Planet fitness has those nice hydro massaging tables. I could get used to those every week haha!

 

[RollinWOT]

I agree with Off Grid. I don't know why I didn't think of 12V plug in stuff before lol, just slipped my mind. They make 12V plug ins that convert to a normal twin plug outlet just like a home socket. Obviously, they won't put out as many amps as a normal 120V home outlet, but it's a much simpler, self contained method of charging without having to do custom one-off work to your van's charging system. You could get one of those and plug your phone charger into your computer's USB drive to charge your phone, and just plug your laptop's power cable into the 12V socket:twin plug socket conversion thingy. For the life of me, I can't remember what they are called. Regardless of how you do your setup for charging and power, I recommend switching to a deep cycle marine battery and possibly even a dual battery setup, that way you wont have to worry about draining your van;s battery so low that it won't start. For keeping clean, I like to use baby wipes. They are great for after meals and when showering is inconvenient or not accessible. Cheers!

 

[Theadyn]

Hi and Welcome!! How awesome you have found a niche that could transport into a mobile job, awesome!! You will find tons of info here, best of luck!!

 

[rvwandering]

Welcome to the CRVL forums J! Your plans sound very workable. Good luck! Keep us updated.

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.

 

[GoodWorksMedia]

Hi and Welcome!!  How awesome you have found a niche that could transport into a mobile job, awesome!!     You will find tons of info here, best of luck!!

Thanks Theadyn,

I've heard there are a few other Production assistants who have done the same thing. So at least I know I'm not out here alone, but it is fun reading through the forums. I'm hoping I'll meet a few of you fellow van dwellers and see some great conversions in person. I learn better when I caet my hands on a project and map it out.

Happy travels!