# New Full Timer Saying Hi



## Wissel (Jul 29, 2018)

Hey All, thanks for the add :wave: I'm David

About a year ago, after a lot of discussion, my partner (Claira) and I decided we wanted to live full-time in a motorhome. We've had vans for 12 years (self-builds for 7), so went into this with our eyes open. It's taken a lot of planning, but it's now happening 

We needed a van that would work with our new lifestyle. As I work online, a steady income was simple enough, but I'd need an area to work and prefer a PC to laptop. We wanted a good bed, good storage, good security, a proper shower, a den for the dog (Rossi) - the list was long. We decided to rebuild our existing van (2010 Boxer L3H2) into this:



I don't want to bore the hell out of everyone with a huge post, so I'll just say the van is almost finished and does everything we wanted. It's powered by 400Ah of LiFePO4, has every luxury we wanted, has a central PC, instant hot water (iMass), is always cool for the dog and pretty secure.

So hi to all and thanks for the add :lol-053:


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## Makzine (Jul 29, 2018)

Hello and :welcome:


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## izwozral (Jul 29, 2018)

Hey, you won't be boring anyone with details, especially photo's it is motorhome porn for most of us.


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## Pauljenny (Jul 29, 2018)

Welcome. 
Having gone into the project so thoroughly, and spent a serious amount of time and money; 
have a look at the benefits of full membership.
Why spoil the ship for the proverbial  of tar?
Good luck to you, 
Your future input will be invaluable, I'm sure.


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## Clunegapyears (Jul 29, 2018)

Do join and show it off at meets. Plus pix please.


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## phillybarbour (Jul 29, 2018)

Hi and welcome along.


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## Robmac (Jul 30, 2018)

Welcome aboard.


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## Nabsim (Jul 30, 2018)

Hi and welcome to the forum, bore away we like to see and hear others ideas


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## Sharon the Cat (Jul 30, 2018)

Hi, we need pics.


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## The laird (Jul 30, 2018)

Hi welcome and enjoy,you won’t bore us as we live to see folks efforts,plenty pics are great


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## Wissel (Jul 30, 2018)

Thanks for the welcome guys 

The van is still very much a work in progress, but here are a few images.

A quick shot of the roof:


MVIMG_20180430_160018 by David Black, on Flickr

The paint work still needs touching up, plus I took this before the antenna's were fitted. So 4 x 100w solar, 2 x Mini Heki, Maxfann Deluxe and an electric Dometic awning with no support legs (godsend with my dog as he would wrap his tether around legs). Alo a spoiler at front to stop branches catching under panels.

Talking of the Maxxfan:


IMG_20180522_143948~2 by David Black, on Flickr

Here it is from the inside, along with a modded Heki blind. Just love this fan and haven't switched it off once in the last month. Love that it can be open in rain.

My water heater might be news to some as very new and first of its kind for Europe:


IMG_20180601_124856 by David Black, on Flickr

This is the iMass instant water heater. Not tried it yet but love the idea of a proper shower  

It fits in the far section of this image (under one side of bed):


IMG_20180527_123439 by David Black, on Flickr

and then the battery bank fits next door:



IMG_20180615_115726 by David Black, on Flickr

The battery is a 400Ah Winston LiFePO4 with 123 BMS. It's charged via a Votronic VBCS 60/40/430 which works with the BMS to supply 60A when driving and 40A on EHU. Can take up to 430w of solar. The charger sits under drivers seat, along with a 1500w Edecoa inverter:



Inverter and charger by David Black, on Flickr

This inverter is for powering a Tassimo and the Missus's hairdryer mainly and is usually switched off. I got fed up with the cab floor so made a new, flat one:



IMG_20180506_163123 by David Black, on Flickr

This is carpeted and a big improvement imo.

Security wise I've fitted proper deadlocks, plus so we can have the windows open with the dog safely, fitted bars:



IMG_20180514_160516 by David Black, on Flickr



IMG_20180601_124842 by David Black, on Flickr

Finally for now, the PC. It's a low power i5 system with 16gb ddr4 and 4 hard drives.:



IMG_20180320_165526 by David Black, on Flickr

It's silent, about 30cm square and can run on any voltage from 6v-32v. It consumes about 22w per hour:



IMG_20180321_160113 by David Black, on Flickr

Phew - that's a lot of Flickr links


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## Tes (Jul 31, 2018)

Hello :welcome:
The vans looking good, I hope you make some awesome memories in it.


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## wildebus (Jul 31, 2018)

Hi David :wave:

You are right about the MaxxAir Fan - as it is American, it would be appropriate to say it is 'awesome'. I don't think any European fan on the market comes close to it.
I like the blind you added to it - nice touch.  If there is one critisism I could make about the fan is that the little green LED when in AUTO mode is much too bright at nighttime (but is that is as bad as it gets, it's pretty good!) 

Good to speak to you the other day as well.  Doing some very interesting stuff there


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## Beemer (Jul 31, 2018)

WOW ! some serious electrics there.
Like the photos, more please?


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## mariesnowgoose (Jul 31, 2018)

Hello David & Claira, welcome aboard :wave:

Awesome van build!


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## Sharon the Cat (Jul 31, 2018)

Wowee! Sadly the bit I understood best was the PC spec. Please keep us all updated with your progress with the van & your travels too.

PS
we need pics of the dog too. :dog:


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## Wissel (Jul 31, 2018)

wildebus said:


> Hi David :wave:
> 
> You are right about the MaxxAir Fan - as it is American, it would be appropriate to say it is 'awesome'. I don't think any European fan on the market comes close to it.
> I like the blind you added to it - nice touch.  If there is one critisism I could make about the fan is that the little green LED when in AUTO mode is much too bright at nighttime (but is that is as bad as it gets, it's pretty good!)
> ...



Thanks David and thanks for the chat. It was your fridge thread that made me sign up and join 

Maybe I can repay the the great info you gave me in a small way regarding the green light on the Maxxfan. I use these on all LED's in my van 

Black version: LightDims Black Out Edition - Light Blocking LED Covers For Routers, Electronics And Appliances And More Blocks 100% Of Light: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home
White version: LightDims White Dims - Light Dimming LED Covers/Light Dimming Sheets for White colored Baby Monitors, Electronics and Appliances and more. Dims 80-90% of Light, in Retail Packaging.: Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

They work really well.


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## Wissel (Jul 31, 2018)

Sharon the Cat said:


> Wowee! Sadly the bit I understood best was the PC spec. Please keep us all updated with your progress with the van & your travels too.
> 
> PS
> we need pics of the dog too. :dog:



Cheers Sharon, this is Rossi, my 12 year old oversized spoilt Staffie



Rossi by David Black, on Flickr

Looks like butter wouldn't melt right. How deceived we were


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## Pauljenny (Jul 31, 2018)

As an ignorant non- tecchie, please excuse my question?
Have you worked out what your final payload will be?
You might have to put the pooch on a diet.


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## Wissel (Jul 31, 2018)

Pauljenny said:


> As an ignorant non- tecchie, please excuse my question?
> Have you worked out what your final payload will be?
> You might have to put the pooch on a diet.



I haven't yet, but last build (same van) had almost 200Kg free with everything in it (including all our gear, water, fuel and the dog  ).

This build "should" be a little lighter on paper, but won't know for sure until finished. I've used lightweight Poplar ply everywhere and always kept weight to a minimum. Apart from the bathroom sink which weighs a couple of Kg's more than others, but as this is for fulltime we wanted a nice bathroom:



The batteries help a lot with weight as way lighter than equivalent lead-acid.


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