Cargo Van Conversion

This is one of a series of articles, describing my journey of assembling and installing Lithium battery cells, as part of my van conversion. I will likely make mistakes and may not even reach my goal of a cheap, yet large Lithium battery bank.This is the continuation of Part Two of my journey. Top Balancing I used …

I continue where I left off in the previous article Van Ceiling Panel Part II. As a reminder, I use an automotive tweed protected against daily wear and UV, very similar in color and texture as the front seats of the van. Before I can install the ceiling panel, I still have to finish …

This is one of a series of articles, describing my journey of assembling and installing Lithium battery cells, as part of my van conversion. I will likely make mistakes and may not even reach my goal of a cheap, yet large Lithium battery bank.This is Part Two of my journey. A short update I finished top balancing …

Several smaller jobs this week. I insulate around the side window and permanently install the Tweed Fabric surrounds. Then permanently install the cabinet underneath and pull some wires for a future outlet and some lights. The main job was to connect the gray water valve’s wiring to the 12V circuit and install a ON/OFF switch …

Today, after a two month long wait, I received my Lithium battery cells form China. I’ve done period purchases through Alibaba and AliEpress now for the last 2 years, mostly below $20.00 each and haven’t had any issues so far. That gave me the confidence to try a $750.00 buy on Alibaba for eight 3.2V …

Much of the following information was derived from DIY Solar Forum. Be aware of the following issues that may arise when dealing with your Chinese contacts. NO NOT everyone speaks English. Many times if they do not understand, what you are asking, they run it through Google Translate and it goes downhill from there.DO NOT use abbreviations.DO …

I continue where I left off in the previous article Van Ceiling Panel Part I. As a reminder, I use an automotive tweed protected against daily wear and UV, very similar in color and texture as the front seats of the van. In this video, I start by gluing the edges of the fabric to …

https://youtu.be/oYD1Zsr7az0 Today, after a two month long wait, I received my Lithium battery cells form China. I’ve done period purchases through Alibaba and AliExpress now for the last 2 years, mostly below $20.00 each and haven’t had any issues so far. That gave me the confidence to try a $750.00 buy on Alibaba for eight 3.2V …

https://youtu.be/uufDfME2cHA Much of the ceiling has been covered by 1in – 1-1/2in insulation and it’s time to cover it up. I plan to use a 4′ x 8′ (~120cm x ~240cm) sheet of 3/16″ (~5mm) thick plywood covered with an automotive tweed fabric, which I also use on some of the walls and around the windows of …

With the Van Build coming to an end, several important projects need some attention. Today I’ll start working on the battery bank of my solar system. Originally, and that was at the beginning of the van build, I installed two 6V Golf cart batteries. This netted me only ~100Ah at 12V nominal. Sufficient for only …