Hudson Valley NY

[Billxp]

Just discovered the forum and wanted to say hello. I've been slowly restoring/maintaining my gf's 1989 Ford E150 Hightop van. She's had it since 1990 and has a little over 100k miles on her. I'm a recently retired auto mechanic so plan on spending more time this spring fixing the little annoying things I didn't have time for in the past. Hopefully do some more traveling in "AV" this summer.

[mkguitar]

Hi Bill


Welcome to the forums


That Ford should be pretty easy to work on


Looks like you have a fridge and a furnace, what else ?


Cheers, Mike

[Billxp]

Thanks for the welcome Mike.

She's pretty sparse. 2 burner stove, small cold water sink, propane heater and a broken 3 way fridge. It did originally have a tv and a/c unit, both were long gone by the time I came into the picture.

The fridge is on the list to be replace this season. I'm planning on replacing it with a 12v system and adding some lithium batteries and solar panels.

[mkguitar]

alot of owners replace the old dometic 3 way fridge- mine is still working pretty good- and I don't have the electrical energy available to replace it with a full electric with out a major refit.



I'm in Arizona so definitely don't want panels on the van, we park in the shade when we can



old dometics show up once in a while cheep or freebies here


I replaced my TV with a 22" samsung from costco...I was looking at the displayed TV's and realized many of them used transformer bricks from 120VAC to 14VDC.


the TV is DC native and low on energy comsumption, It also has a media player and a usb port- downloaded ( purchased) movies and shows go on a thumbdrive which is nice on a rainy evening to watch a movie and wind down.


AC ? we try to go where the weather suits, we have rarely rarely used the AC while camping. park in the shade and you'll never miss not having it


cheers, Mike

[Billxp]

The technology sure has changed since 1989. I can't believe they even made a camper van on a E150 chassis.

The old ac was a small home unit and passed through the back of the hightop. I'm not looking to replace that. I am looking to add a window in the back to replace the ugly plexiglass repair that was made years ago.

I looked into replacing the old fridge and I've been going back and forth on which way to go. Fridge unit costs are about the same. Its the cost of added batteries, solar and controllers that have me hesitating.

[Rlum]

Originally Posted by Billxp

Just discovered the forum and wanted to say hello. I've been slowly restoring/maintaining my gf's 1989 Ford E150 Hightop van. She's had it since 1990 and has a little over 100k miles on her. I'm a recently retired auto mechanic so plan on spending more time this spring fixing the little annoying things I didn't have time for in the past. Hopefully do some more traveling in "AV" this summer.

Welcome to the forum! It looks like you will be having lots projects to work on.

[Rlum]

Originally Posted by Billxp

The technology sure has changed since 1989. I can't believe they even made a camper van on a E150 chassis.

The old ac was a small home unit and passed through the back of the hightop. I'm not looking to replace that. I am looking to add a window in the back to replace the ugly plexiglass repair that was made years ago.

I looked into replacing the old fridge and I've been going back and forth on which way to go. Fridge unit costs are about the same. Its the cost of added batteries, solar and controllers that have me hesitating.

You can just install a compressor refrigerator from box store. Even one from a office supply place will work.

I would not spend much money on the solar and/or charge controller for now.

I would invest in a good battery bank with BMS. A good generator will recharge bank when you are not driving a lot.

[Billxp]

Originally Posted by Rlum

You can just install a compressor refrigerator from box store. Even one from a office supply place will work.

I would not spend much money on the solar and/or charge controller for now.

I would invest in a good battery bank with BMS. A good generator will recharge bank when you are not driving a lot.

Those places are selling 12volt units?

Just starting to research the solar panels and looks like I can get 200watts with a controller from Lowes for under $300

I'm not a fan of generators and the need for extra fuel and the extra noise.

[DaveBad]

Renogy has a sale going on right now.
For Example:
https://www.renogy.com/100-watt-12-v...ompact-design/
https://www.renogy.com/rover-li-20-a...ge-controller/