My 2008 conversion

cajundjb

New member
Control Panel

This will be mounted between shower and dinette. Water tank levels will be mounted on lower left. They should be in this week.

photo.jpg
 

cajundjb

New member
Status to date

Satellite dish - Installed, Coax and power run to main cabin
Dash radio - In stock, waiting for a local tech to come install
Woodgrain dash kit - Waiting to do this until radio is installed
Water tanks - When received the fittings were in the wrong location, waiting on replacements
Jotto desk - On order
Running boards - On order, was due in last week
Water pump - Installed, wired and tested
Batteries - Done
110v/12v lights - Wiring is done, fitment of fixtures to coincide with upper storage
Curtains - Incomplete
Back up camera - In stock, waiting for radio install, cable is run
Kitchen electric receptacles - Done
Upper storage - Incomplete, this week
Rear stereo - In stock, will install near the end, wires all run
Outside shower - In stock, will install this week
Rear blinds - Incomplete
Medicine cabinet - Incomplete, this week
Converter - Done
Charging system - Done
Light controls - In stock, will install this week
Window boxes - Incomplete
Booth table - Incomplete, waiting for supplier
Drop leaf table - Incomplete, waiting for supplier
External water hookup - Done

:snore:
 

maxextz

Rollin Rollin Rollin.....
:clapping:congratulations cajundjb looks really good, you get more pleasure doing it yourself.:thumbup:

max.....
 

cajundjb

New member
Thanks, Max. Mostly I'm just sort of helping Todd Reid (Midwest Coachworks), He's putting some really nice touches to my vague ideas. LOL This will probably be the last vehicle I'll buy so hopefully it'll be as nice as it looks. It should be completed in 2 weeks due to delays in receiving the running boards from Millinium. I'm more than ready to go pick it up in Ohio.:D:
 

KL2BE

Member
Re: Control Panel

This will be mounted between shower and dinette. Water tank levels will be mounted on lower left. They should be in this week.

View attachment 14738
Nice looking control panel :rad:
What I don't see is a battery monitor :thinking:
:professor: As sophisticated a camper as you are building should have a micro-processor controlled battery monitor if you are going to spend any time off the grid and away from a shore-power cord.
Most RVs only have a crude volt meter to give you the state of charge of your house batteries; very misleading since the house-bank voltage is a very poor indicator of battery level :idunno:. With a good battery monitor that keeps track of amps in, amps out and amp/hours remaining, you can avoid dead batteries :popcorn: and the frequent battery replacement that will result if you routinely discharge below 45 % of battery capacity :eek:.
Two good low-cost monitors are the Xantrex Link 10 and the TriMetric TM 2020.
Go to this site http://www.bestconverter.com/ and look at these monitors http://www.bestconverter.com/TriMetric-Battery-Monitor_c_66.html http://www.bestconverter.com/Xantrex-Battery-Monitor-XBM_p_246.html http://www.bestconverter.com/Link-20_p_307.html
:2cents: The TriMetric TM 2020 is the lowest price for a quality monitoring system, although I am partial to the Link 10 by Xantrex which I've had on my sailboat and just installed on my Sprinter LTV. BestConverter dosen't seem to list the Link 10 anymore but it's available from West Marine and elsewhere.
 

cajundjb

New member
Thanks a bunch!

Thanks KL2BE. I'm glad you mentioned that. :bow: I don't know how we missed it. It seems like the bigger the project; the more I miss, or is it due to my age. :bash:
 

OrioN

2008 2500 170" EXT
Re: Control Panel

Nice looking control panel :rad:
What I don't see is a battery monitor :thinking:
:professor: As sophisticated a camper as you are building should have a micro-processor controlled battery monitor if you are going to spend any time off the grid and away from a shore-power cord.
Most RVs only have a crude volt meter to give you the state of charge of your house batteries; very misleading since the house-bank voltage is a very poor indicator of battery level :idunno:. With a good battery monitor that keeps track of amps in, amps out and amp/hours remaining, you can avoid dead batteries :popcorn: and the frequent battery replacement that will result if you routinely discharge below 45 % of battery capacity :eek:.
Two good low-cost monitors are the Xantrex Link 10 and the TriMetric TM 2020.
Go to this site http://www.bestconverter.com/ and look at these monitors http://www.bestconverter.com/TriMetric-Battery-Monitor_c_66.html http://www.bestconverter.com/Xantrex-Battery-Monitor-XBM_p_246.html http://www.bestconverter.com/Link-20_p_307.html
:2cents: The TriMetric TM 2020 is the lowest price for a quality monitoring system, although I am partial to the Link 10 by Xantrex which I've had on my sailboat and just installed on my Sprinter LTV. BestConverter dosen't seem to list the Link 10 anymore but it's available from West Marine and elsewhere.
Link 10 is being phased out for the new LinkLite and LinkLite Pro. I use the LinkLite and it's a 'Trace', the only real difference is that the algorithms have been 'polished' for increased accuracy...
 

cajundjb

New member
Re: Control Panel

Link 10 is being phased out for the new LinkLite and LinkLite Pro. I use the LinkLite and it's a 'Trace', the only real difference is that the algorithms have been 'polished' for increased accuracy...
Thanks for the info update Orion. It looks like we are going to install a combo unit for the tank levels also on the bottom left of that panel. If I suspect any problems with that, I'll definitely consider the Linklite models.
 

cajundjb

New member
Latest update

Yesterday was spent mostly testing on the systems. We mainly tested the electrical system, testing switching from shore to inboard power and how well the battery bank filled in the gaps. Everything went well.

Basically, with the heatpump running and the fridge and lights on, they all worked fine with the engine driven generator. Occasionally when the compressor of the rooftop kicks on it will pull a little power from the Inverter for about 2 seconds or less, but it kept up fine.

Also, with the inverter on we can switch AC power from shore to none, to engine driven without any gap in power to the items on the inverter subpanel, which includes all the receptacles, fridge, entertainment system, etc.

The only thing that seemed a little abnormal was that the compressor on the rooftop runs for about 10 out of every 15 minutes. But this is the first ducted heatpump he's installed, so he's going to check into that, may be completely normal.

Curtains were picked up Friday and Todd will spend next week on the curtains and window boxes and finishing up the electronics and such. The tanks are due in Tuesday, so he'll get the plumbing finished then too. We're still waiting for the running boards from Millinium. I should be able to pick up the van around 7/15/2009. We'll see.:bounce:

John B.
 

maxextz

Rollin Rollin Rollin.....
well done again john, looks fantastic so far i hope to do something like this someday and your posts pics and write ups will be great to get ideas off.

max.......:clapping:
 

cajundjb

New member
well done again john, looks fantastic so far i hope to do something like this someday and your posts pics and write ups will be great to get ideas off.

max.......:clapping:
Thank you Sir. That really means a lot coming from those with a lot more Sprinter experience than I have. :bow:

But if you feel the need, I can definitely provide a list of 'don't' s also. :bash:
 

cajundjb

New member
Running board update

I talked to the saleslady at Millenium this morning and the hold up on the boards I ordered was the backlog of orders for the wide step (10") for passenger side. According to the saleslady, the wide step is mostly used on handicapped vans. She had some of the narrower step (6") in stock so I switched my order to them which should be shipped tomorrow. Hopefully they will arrive at Midwest Coachworks Friday and we can get them painted over the weekend. So far, 7-15-2009 is still looking like a good date estimate for me to pick the Sprinter up.

Further testing on the a/c cycling by Todd Reid leads him to believe the compressor is bad and should be replaced tomorrow under warranty. :thumbup:
 
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