Advancing Alvar

[TML100]

Davydd,

Thanks for the terrific write-up on your experience, and the photo's! I'm also putting in Lithium Batteries...so was very interested in your comment that ARV was putting a heating jacket around them. Great idea. I'm in Northern Wi so no matter how much I'll try to be somewhere else there will no doubt be winter days when it's subzero. Also, family in Denver.

So I'm wondering if you know the company they source the heating jacket from?

I'm not an ARV customer...had another upfitter do inside work, and I'm doing the lithium and solar, with some help from AM Solar.

Thanks in advance.

Tim

 

[Davydd]

TML100,

I don't know what they use for a heating jacket or pad. Such a thing is pretty common in the RV industry for heating under floor waste and water tanks. Once the batteries are installed in there own custom under floor carrier box I will probably never see them for as long as I own the van if 5,000 charge cycles are possible. There is no floor access to them and there should be no reason for any maintenance. Since it is a built block of batteries it will weigh 227 lbs. That means you would have to put it up on a lift and drop the box with a jack.

If you DIY lithium ion batteries you could place them inside the RV since they don't out gas. The heating of the van would keep them warm.

We gain a lot of storage in our ARV since the batteries, Espar heat exchanger and hot water are all located below the floor. We even get the space in a cabinet that most Class Bs fill up with a 6 gallon propane water heater. We will also have 4.6 cubic feet of "basement" (under floor) storage in three compartments in the back of our ARV.

 

[Davydd]

Hadn't noticed before that they used the roof rail tracks for attaching the panels. Good idea...

Bob,

It looks like an aluminum channel track that runs the full length in the rain gutter. In the one photo the owner posted on Facebook of the exterior of the ARV you can't even see the solar panels from eye level. Very stealth.

I looked all over the Internet to see if that air conditioning cover was standard. As it turned out the Imagine ARV owner said it was a custom cover by Advanced RV for a Coleman Mach 8 low profile air conditioner. I was contemplating getting a different air conditioner but the research and development didn't get done in time. I can't wait forever. Two ARVs have already slipped ahead of me.

 

[classbbud]

Davydd,

Do you remember any details about the new air conditioning unit ARV was thinking about using. I saw Alvar a couple of weeks ago. It's beautiful.

 

[Davydd]

I don't have any information on the air conditioning unit other than I was told it would be more efficient in electrical use which had me interested and willing to test it but not overly must have interested since we rarely use our air conditioner. If you read through this thread you'll see I started out reasoning myself into 400ah of batteries and grew to 800ah. I figure now I am more than covered for that rare off grid air conditioning use.

 

[classbbud]

davydd,

I want to thank you for all the posts you've made in all the sprinter forums. You are the reason we are purchasing an Advanced RV. I also enjoy your personal Facebook page. Your descriptions and luscious photos of your trips are wonderful.

 

[bobojay]

I say David and Nancy should get a perk for all the business they have & will bring to ARV. They were ARV's first off the street visitors when Mike & Marsha first opened the doors, and have been talking the business up since then.

Maybe they'll see this "suggestion".....LOL

 

[Davydd]

Thank you Classbbud.

Bob,

Advanced RV already seems to be in a quandary with backorders a year and a half out. Sounds like they are going to shift their facilities around a bit and they have hired new people. The other business still uses most of the building. I'm predicting Katy bar the door when our ARV goes out the door. Then I don't know what I am going to do because subsequent ARVs are going to be better and I can't stop designing. I'm already working on my next version.

No, I don't have a privileged type of relationship. I'm just an architect by training that gets deeply involved in design and just happy there is a company that can execute ideas and design. I am truly independent and am deriving no benefit and paying for what i get. From what I can tell and observe is Advanced RV has treated all their customers first class.

 

[mikes47]

I just took delivery of Imagine, the 15th ARV customer delivery. I can confirm what Davydd says about First Class treatment. Mike Neundorfer has created what appears to be an ideal work environment. The quality of workmanship and attention to detail is pervasive. We spent 2-1/2 days in low-key, 1:1 orientation to the systems. Mike N. shared with us his vision for ARV as a custom shop with an eventual annual production capacity of around 50 coaches. To that end, they are adding lift capacity and interior water testing capacity as they prepare to move production next door. That work was underway last week while we were there. I also put in a good word for David as it was his postings that helped me configure Imagine. What is particularly noteworthy about ARV is that as they get an innovation ready for prime time, it goes immediately into production. No "model year changeover" to deal with. ARV is a top of the line purchase and it shows.

 

[Davydd]

It was a quiet week for us in not hearing much from Advanced RV. We are now 4 weeks away from picking our B up. We did have some discussion about our stowaway table we will use with the two cab chairs upfront. I must be contrary to everyone else. I keep stressing I want a two person B and no more more. Most every B converter thinks people would actually entertain inside their Bs with fancy meals. Even ARV has developed a large 38" table with folding leaves. I stressed I did not want such a large table that spans across the the seating. For one you cannot get up from the driver's seat once the table is in place and set. I hate the idea of being cramped in like that. I also hate the idea as I had to do with our Great West Van to have to slide into the driver's seat from the passenger seat once the table was in place. That was one reason we shortened the width of the wardrobe in order to push it away from the driver's seat.

I know a lot of B owners who have left their tables at home or used TV trays. ARV has gone to a portable leg instead of a leg that fits in a floor slot. So the table could be used outside if desired.

So, to get across what I wanted, I put two TV trays together, taped down some tracing paper and drew the outline of the table I wanted (26" or 28" wide depending on the clearance between the table and wardrobe). Then I did a typical setting to demonstrate that it is not big but doable. We never eat inside our B unless we have inclement weather and then it would never be as elaborate as we would outside at a picnic table. We have never entertained inside our B. I also stressed I wanted 4" radius corners and not their standard 2". I pointed out that a plate has a 4-5" radius so any extra table at the corner was not needed on such as small table. Lay it out, take a picture, send it.

 

[hein]

Are you left handed?

Emily Post would not approve of your place setting. ha ha.
Sorry to nit pick, but I had to set the table when I was young.

Thanks for the update, Looks like your van is getting close!

 

[Davydd]

I'm left handed and the wife is right handed. It works in tight quarters and restaurant booths.

 

[GeorgeRa]

Good table sizing exercise, I finished designing the pull/swivel/flip table permanently attached to the cabinet with the objective of maximum size but not larger than the cabinet surface, so my table is 24" x 31.5" positioned directly in the front/middle of the seating bench (rock & roll sofa bed). It takes less than 10 seconds to make or fold the table. Hope to finish it next week. Our van is just for 2 of us.

George.

 

[hein]

I'm left handed and the wife is right handed. It works in tight quarters and restaurant booths.

Knew there would be a good reason. Functionality trumps formality in tight spaces. We don't have the luxury of a sit-at dinner table in our van. We have an aluminum camp table as a coffee table and the middle of our futon folds down to expose a flat surface with two cup holders and enough room for a couple of plates and a bottle of wine. The upside is that while seated on the futon, we can both watch TV while we eat. But there never seems to be anything worth watching.

 

[Davydd]

I got word last night Alvar might be ready in about two weeks instead of February. We are getting rather anxious.

This is more a symbol than a name...

 

[Aeronie]

I got word last night Alvar might be ready in about two weeks instead of February. We are getting rather anxious.

This is more a symbol than a name...

Is that your confirmed graphic for Alvar? I'm in the process of drawing the graphic for Beans.

 

[Davydd]

I sent it to ARV. It is Alvar Aalto's actual signature for the first name Alvar bordered by the outline of his classic glass vase. I took the two sized them and put them together then did a lot of cleanup work. Unless you're told you would be hard pressed to see the Alvar name. I may thicken up the signature lines to be closer to the vase lines yet.

 

[mikes47]

"This is more a symbol than a name ..."

The Sprinter formerly known as ...

 

[Davydd]

Prince used to be practically a neighbor of mine out in the western suburbs of Minneapolis. I once designed a house near his on Lake Ann. Rather than sell his house, when he moved he had it torn down.

 

[SiennaGuy]

About the underfloor heating: I somehow thought that the diesel Espar system that ARV uses provided that. Is the Alde system the only RV one that provides underfloor heat?