The latest Advanced RV 144 WB RV - Gayle

[rowiebowie]

Originally Posted by GeorgeRa

For example, I wouldn’t use 100lbs of Hushmat or 490 lbs. of batteries and inverter on a 2500 Sprinter. This is not the first time we discuss PV benefits and very likely we will never agree.

I'm averse to wading into the solar -vs- quick charge alternator debate, since it is down to personal preference which can neither be right or wrong.

But 490 lbs. seems about a third too much weight. Since my 3000W inverter/charger weighs about 60 lbs. and each 100Ah battery under 30 lbs., I think a closer estimate based on 800Ah's of lithium battery (@ 240lbs.) and an inverter (@ 60lbs.) would be 300lbs. Actually a significant weight savings over half that size lead-acid battery bank.

[GeorgeRa]

Originally Posted by rowiebowie

I'm averse to wading into the solar -vs- quick charge alternator debate, since it is down to personal preference which can neither be right or wrong.

Good point.

Originally Posted by rowiebowie

But 490 lbs. seems about a third too much weight. Since my 3000W inverter/charger weighs about 60 lbs. and each 100Ah battery under 30 lbs., I think a closer estimate based on 800Ah's of lithium battery (@ 240lbs.) and an inverter (@ 60lbs.) would be 300lbs. Actually a significant weight savings over half that size lead-acid battery bank.

All of my electronics which include: 80/20 cabinet, 1000W inverter/charger, MPPT Morningstar, gauges, switches, Bluesea toggle CB panel, 230Ah AGMs, battery cables weigh 281.6 lbs. Replacing AGM with 230 Ah Li would weigh about 210 lbs.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by rowiebowie

I'm averse to wading into the solar -vs- quick charge alternator debate, since it is down to personal preference which can neither be right or wrong.

But 490 lbs. seems about a third too much weight. Since my 3000W inverter/charger weighs about 60 lbs. and each 100Ah battery under 30 lbs., I think a closer estimate based on 800Ah's of lithium battery (@ 240lbs.) and an inverter (@ 60lbs.) would be 300lbs. Actually a significant weight savings over half that size lead-acid battery bank.

You have to count in the wiring, box, frame, connections, etc. The actual batteries are comparable to every other lithium ion battery per ah. The wire from under the hood from the second alternator to the batteries in the rear is about 1/2" dia. copper. There is a brief view of the batteries in the video. The 3,000w Xantrex Freedom SW3012 weighs 62 lbs. I guess about the same as yours.

You couldn't install AGMs with the amp hour capacity as lithium in a 2500 chassis and probably not a 3500 chassis simply because of of weight AND more importantly space. Those 6 Valence batteries are drop in size 27 batteries at 144ah each. My 800ah is equivalent to about 13 AGM car batteries to get the useful recommended amp hour power out of them.

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by rowiebowie

I'm averse to wading into the solar -vs- quick charge alternator debate, since it is down to personal preference which can neither be right or wrong. . .

True the benefit of solar really depends on how you use your van. For my use case it is essential. My van sits in the driveway for a week or more when I'm not traveling. The 400 watts of solar keeps my 440AH AGM and chassis batteries all fully charged.

When traveling I visit friends for a few days at a time and they often don't have shore power plugs. Solar keeps the batteries full with the 12V refrigerator and MaxxAir fan running.

When I take trips by airplane I leave the van at the airport, often for two weeks or more. Solar keeps everything charged. A few years ago for trip to Churchill, MB I drove to Thompson, MB, the end of the paved road. Then left my van in an RV storage lot for two weeks, taking the train to Churchill. Again solar kept the batteries full with the 12V refrigerator and MaxxAir fan running normally.

[Davydd]

You can always justify anything. I've opted for high capacity battery power and second alternator over solar and the need for propane, BTW. All my decisions are based on habit and experience over three Class B's with a traveling spouse over 220,000 miles and counting. You can't achieve everything and of course most RVers except tent campers in a storm think a B is stupid to begin with being so small.

Given you can't have everything you have to make decisions. Some things are nice to have and can come in handy many times. So, I've tried to adopt a 5% rule. If I don't need something over 5% of my travels I can seriously think about deleting as I mentioned not needing solar in my long-term storage decision where i had always had shore power and now store inside. There are always exceptions. That's the 5%.

I may never leave our van and take a trip to Churchill for two weeks though I am intrigued. If I did, I could plan ahead, empty out the fridge and shut it off and shut down electrically. We can operate for a week as it is leaving it or not and just stay in place. That probably is the practical limit since a 4 day stay at rallies is my normal maximum. 5% solution. Eliminate solar.

We could eliminate the high idol charging feature as well that everyone worries about because we don't use it but it is just there built in as standard on ARVs and probably more difficult to eliminate it. But thinking about it if we wanted to chance it we could use it and go to Churchill for two weeks and leave our refrigerator on. It would probably idol twice for a maximum of four hours. But not going to do that.

[tgregg]

Originally Posted by Davydd

I'm intrigued by the awning windows in the back doors. I didn't think you could do that. That is now something for me to consider but my van has been ordered with standard back windows.

I have those same awning windows in the back doors of my Ram Promaster. My van came with fixed back windows as well.

I had an auto glass shop remove the fixed glass windows and attach Lexan in their place. Sika makes a special adhesive similar to the one used to attach glass that works with Lexan.

Then I cut holes in the Lexan and installed the Awning windows.

[rowiebowie]

Originally Posted by tgregg

I have those same awning windows in the back doors of my Ram Promaster. My van came with fixed back windows as well.

I had an auto glass shop remove the fixed glass windows and attach Lexan in their place. Sika makes a special adhesive similar to the one used to attach glass that works with Lexan.

Then I cut holes in the Lexan and installed the Awning windows.

I have a Chevy Express chassis with the factory flip out rear windows (with after-market "Skreenz"). Even though we also have windows on opposite sides of the bed, they only provide cross-ventilation if the van is positioned rght. On calm evenings or when the wind is not blowing from the side, the breeze is lacking. But we can pop the rear windows and capture the natural breeze blowing from the rear, or we can use the Maxxfan to draw fresh air right over our heads.

I would severely miss the rear opening windows and think this should be an option on Promaster/Sprinter/Transit builds. Do you have any pics of your windows?

[GeorgeRa]

Originally Posted by Davydd

You can always justify anything. I've opted for high capacity battery power and second alternator over solar and the need for propane, BTW. All my decisions are based on habit and experience over three Class B's with a traveling spouse over 220,000 miles and counting. You can't achieve everything and of course most RVers except tent campers in a storm think a B is stupid to begin with being so small.

Given you can't have everything you have to make decisions. Some things are nice to have and can come in handy many times. So, I've tried to adopt a 5% rule. If I don't need something over 5% of my travels I can seriously think about deleting as I mentioned not needing solar in my long-term storage decision where i had always had shore power and now store inside. There are always exceptions. That's the 5%.

I may never leave our van and take a trip to Churchill for two weeks though I am intrigued. If I did, I could plan ahead, empty out the fridge and shut it off and shut down electrically. We can operate for a week as it is leaving it or not and just stay in place. That probably is the practical limit since a 4 day stay at rallies is my normal maximum. 5% solution. Eliminate solar.

We could eliminate the high idol charging feature as well that everyone worries about because we don't use it but it is just there built in as standard on ARVs and probably more difficult to eliminate it. But thinking about it if we wanted to chance it we could use it and go to Churchill for two weeks and leave our refrigerator on. It would probably idol twice for a maximum of four hours. But not going to do that.

I agree, we can all justified anything, within our budgets, based on our needs and we are all different. Your 220,000 miles are impressive, that is about 500 x 8 hrs. work days driving at 55 mph, remarkable. Our Oregon <> Florida trip was long and tiring. Out primary use is actual camping mainly on the West Coast, a fraction of driving comparing to your achievement, so, definitely different needs. We keep records of dates and campgrounds, not miles.

[tgregg]

Originally Posted by rowiebowie

do you have any pics of your windows?

rear windows closed_LI.jpg

rear windows open_LI.jpg

[Davydd]

220,000 miles in 3 Class B's in 14 years and all travel miles, no local use. So that averages out to about 15,700 miles per year. Generally 20,000/yr because I was employed for the first couple of years and in the past two years we have curtailed some travel because we went abroad for vacations in Australia and Europe in our prime traveling periods and this virus has curtailed a lot this year. We travel locally in the upper Midwest of MN, WI and MI during the summer months with the exception of one year to Alaska. Always Indiana in May along with trips to Ohio and Virginia that we won't do this year. The winter is mostly Texas to Arizona and Southern California. Fall could be anywhere from the northwest to Florida to the Maritimes and New England.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by tgregg

Attachment 9077

Attachment 9078

Is that a vent window installed in glass from fixed stock windows?

[rowiebowie]

Originally Posted by Davydd

Is that a vent window installed in glass from fixed stock windows?

See below.

Originally Posted by tgregg

I have those same awning windows in the back doors of my Ram Promaster. My van came with fixed back windows as well.

I had an auto glass shop remove the fixed glass windows and attach Lexan in their place. Sika makes a special adhesive similar to the one used to attach glass that works with Lexan.

Then I cut holes in the Lexan and installed the Awning windows.

Originally Posted by tgregg

Attachment 9077

Attachment 9078

Nice job, and very innovative.

I see now that the acrylic replacement was to give you something to cut out for the flip ups. I like the full see-through, but I guess you could always do smoked acrylic if you wanted only to see out the part of the window that opens.

[tgregg]

Originally Posted by rowiebowie

See below.






Nice job, and very innovative.

I see now that the acrylic replacement was to give you something to cut out for the flip I like the full see-through, but I guess you could always do smoked acrylic if you wanted only to see out the part of the window that opens.

Thanks.

It's not acrylic, it's Lexan. Lexan or polycarbonate is nearly unbreakable where as acrylic is fairly easy to break.

But polycarbonate is difficult to glue. That's why the need for the special Sikaflex adhesive.

The black around the edges of the Lexan where it's glued to the door is the primer used with the adhesive. If you wanted you could paint the primer right up to the edges of the awning window to block the light. I didn't think about that when I had the glass replaced.

[rowiebowie]

You're right of course. I should have just used your term "Lexan". Instead, I confused if for acrylic, which I believe is plexiglass.

I had a local boat shop fabricate an oval window glass for a broken front door. He demonstrated the difference by placing a piece of plexiglass on the open top of a bucket and dropped a one pound rock from a few feet above. It cracked into several pieces. Then he repeated the test with lexan. The rock bounced off with no damage. He did warn of scrathing and said even some paper towels could do it. The rear of a motorhome will probably need washing more often than my front door, but he was just saying use soap, a soft cloth, a lot of water, and a little caution.

Probably nothing different than you'd do for the windows you installed in them.

[GeorgeRa]

Rear glass windows on my 2013 Sprinter van have 180” radius on vertical axis and perhaps some on horizontal. It would be difficult to replace glass with flat sheet polycarbonate.

[tgregg]

Originally Posted by GeorgeRa

Rear glass windows on my 2013 Sprinter van have 180” radius on vertical axis and perhaps some on horizontal. It would be difficult to replace glass with flat sheet polycarbonate.

So does my Promaster. Lexan or polycarbonate is more flexible as well as stronger and sheets of 3/16 or 1/8 inch followed the curve. A sheet of a 1/4 inch would have required assistance from some type of mechanical fastener.

Surprising finding when we removed the original glass they were fastened with 'plastic Velcro' at each corner as well as adhesive. Apparently the 'Velcro' kept the glass in place until the adhesive cured.

[GigaGeek]

That’s a beautiful build for a single person around 5’10 or under, riding on the 144’ chassis.

If someone 6’3 wanted to sleep 2-3 and ride 4 on 144” Sprinter, the Storyteller Overland is the best design I’ve seen. Its disappearing shower and Groove Lounge are brilliant. There is ample storage space as well. For those who don’t care for an east/west platform bed configuration, the Groove Lounge quickly turns into a comfortable bed for a 6’ sleeper. The bathroom facility could be too basic for some but for others it would be perfect.

https://storytelleroverland.com/interior/

Originally Posted by Davydd

Advanced RV didn't build on the 144 WB Sprinter until about a year ago. Ever since no two have been remotely alike. Unlike their 170 WB models they haven't settled on a base plan to start from in customizing each van. This is the latest one named "Gayle" for a single traveler off-grid in any weather. It is a 4x4 built on a 2500 chassis. Note the unique manual self-leveling bed.

[GeorgeRa]

Originally Posted by GigaGeek

That’s a beautiful build for a single person around 5’10 or under, riding on the 144’ chassis.

If someone 6’3 wanted to sleep 2-3 and ride 4 on 144” Sprinter, the Storyteller Overland is the best design I’ve seen. Its disappearing shower and Groove Lounge are brilliant. There is ample storage space as well. For those who don’t care for an east/west platform bed configuration, the Groove Lounge quickly turns into a comfortable bed for a 6’ sleeper. The bathroom facility could be too basic for some but for others it would be perfect.

https://storytelleroverland.com/interior/

The Groovy Launch are called Rock&Roll sofa beds in Europe. You can get them in variable width or length from multiple manufacturers. I have one in our van which takes 10 seconds to deploy or to fold. Their claim of having a patent, well, difficult to patent an existing technology or a design unless they truly have something new.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-LEzuN0PPQ

[MsNomer]

Originally Posted by GeorgeRa

I have one in our van which takes 10 seconds to deploy or to fold.

Then how long to make the bed and where do you store the bedding?

[GeorgeRa]

Originally Posted by MsNomer

Then how long to make the bed and where do you store the bedding?

Switching from sofa to bed is very fast, unlatching 2 quick release bolts, slightly pull and bed folds out by gravity then swing the legs down, going back to sofa is done in reverse.

2” mattress topper bedding is permanently attached to the rear side of the bed and rolled back for storage. Rolling the mattress topper back to storage and strap it takes a few seconds longer than unrolling it. Two sleeping bags and pillows are in the cabinet under the bed.

The bed is 54” x 76”, and moves back 3’ for seating position, give us 13.5 square feet living space for day time. Some folks prefer permanent bed and no time spent to prepare it. We prefer more living space. We master the bed < > sofa deployment to under a couple of minutes.