Mikey's Sprinter Expedition Camper: Cab and Interior

[mhiscox]

Can you tell me more about the positioning of a catalytic heater such as this ? Does it just heat a small area or does warmth tend to move naturally through convection air currents ?

Whoa, asleep at the switch. Sorry that I missed the questions.

I've had several cat heaters and this one is the worst positioned. The cat heater is a radiant heater, so it warms the air in the area by first warming the objects it's pointed at. So you in general want the heater to have a good aim at a width of people and objects, which is not the case here. Sadly, though, this was the only possibility given where everything else had to go.

So it mostly heats up the sofa and drawers immediately across the aisle. Which means that to make things work, we have a small low current portable fan that we sit between the front seats to blow across the heater area and circulate the heat. The point being that it works, but you'd never choose to position a cat heater like this if you had any choice.

Is the white bubble on the roof a mobile satellite system?

Yes. It's one that automatically aims the dish once you are stationary. It's not an in-motion dish. Works pretty well unless you're under trees.

 

[Pete]

Thank you for the compliment. The heater you can see is a Olympian Wave 8 Catalytic Safety Heater made by Camco. You can get them from Camping World:

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/product/olympian-wave-catalytic-safety-heaters/1630

and dozens of other places.
I've never had a problem providing the small amount of ventilation required and am very fond of their silent operation.

Did you install some sort of mechanical ventilation, or did you just rely on whatever "leakage" and natural ventilation that occurs in your vehicle?

 

[ExpoMike]

Hi Mike, great build up!!!

Since I have read a few other threads about who to get the Seitz windows from (Darrin at RUF) but one thing I have not been able to find any pictures of is how the shade/screen system works. I am very seriously considering these for our M1010 build but before I drop the money, I would really like to see some in person. The likelihood of that happening in my area is fairly low so some pictures would be the next best thing.

Can you get me some pics of how they work and your opinions/thoughts on these? Things like how well do they keep out bugs, durability, etc.?

Thanks a bunch!

 

[mhiscox]

Did you install some sort of mechanical ventilation, or did you just rely on whatever "leakage" and natural ventilation that occurs in your vehicle?

The rule of thumb is to make sure you have one square inch of ventilation per 1000 BTUs of heater, so it's pretty easy to meet this with a slightly open window or hatch (and with awning windows, that's easy to do regardless of the weather). I suspect that there's enough leakage in the van--after all, I don't start gasping for breath after an hour or two even with the van sealed tight--but the open window is still good form.

FWIW, nowadays these catayltic heaters generally come equipped with Oxygen Depletion Sensors, which will turn the heater off if there's not enough oxygen to support full combustion. To be doubly safe, though, I still leave the suggested ventilation.

Actually, compared with CO poisoning or lack of O2, I believe that the bigger danger is from something flammable coming in contact with the operating heater. It'd be a problem, for example, if a corner of your sleeping bag fell onto the heater grid. As a rule, we always turn the heater off when someone is sleeping on the bed near the heater, and are also careful to make sure nothing flammable (like a hanging towel that falls of a hanger) could get anywhere near the heater. In point of fact, since we're rarely camping in freezing weather, the most common practice is to turn the heater off before going to sleep and to turn in on about twenty minutes before crawling out in the morning.

 

[mhiscox]

Since I have read a few other threads about who to get the Seitz windows from (Darrin at RUF) but one thing I have not been able to find any pictures of is how the shade/screen system works. . . . . Can you get me some pics of how they work and your opinions/thoughts on these? Things like how well do they keep out bugs, durability, etc.?

Thanks for the compliments on the build. I appreciate your interest.

I wrote up a detailed response to your question, but realized that it'd be harder for anyone else to find the information if it stayed in my build thread. So I posted it to a new thread in the General Expedition Camper Discussion and Modifications subforum. Just go here:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=812620#post812620

to see some pictures and all the gory details.

Mike

 

[southpier]

.... the freezer door drops downwards. I'm not sure why this is an advantage...

maybe the reason is to keep the cold air from tumbling out everytime the door is opened? i've heard this is a big load for a freezer or fridge - hence drawer freezers.

 

[southpier]

...wall cavities are insulated ... (with) ... 3" of homebuilder's fiberglass batt insulation. ....

how has this worked out over time?

 

[mhiscox]

how has this worked out over time?

No problems at all. Because of the way our camper was extensively trimmed out on the inside, using thicker stuff was no problem. If it was a van with just the stock Sprinter plastic wall panels and stock headliner, it would be too thick and you'll want to use an alternative.

 

[southpier]

so no condensation issues, huh? that, and subsequent mold, are a concern I have.

Q: was the insulation paper or foil faced?

thanks

 

[mhiscox]

so no condensation issues, huh? that, and subsequent mold, are a concern I have.

Q: was the insulation paper or foil faced?

No problems; no hint of problems. But we never had any water intrusion and all bets would be off if you had leaky windows or poorly-sealed penetrations of the shell. We used paper-based insulation, with lots of places that the fiberglass was stuffed into nooks and crannies without backing.

 

[4x4BNB]

Hey, Frank,

Were I in your shoes--which I sort of was--I'd try to get hold of a copy of a paperback book titled Living on 12 Volts with Ample Power. You can go to amplepower.com to see if they are still selling it (it's like 20 years old) or you can search the Internets to see if there's a reasonably priced used copy. It's basically a whole book about adding up your loads and meeting them with battery power through an inverter.

Free download....
http://www.gobookee.org/living-on-12-volts-with-ample-power/


Or $29.99 version....actually $34.95 when added to your cart....
http://www.amplepower.com/products/living/

 

[non_applicable]

I've really been enjoying your builds, thanks for documenting them in such detail!

I am wondering about that AC unit near the floor there - how does that work? Do you have fans that take the exhaust to the outside? Where does the moisture go? Any information appreciated, as I'd really prefer not to cut a hole in my roof =) thanks!

 

[pappawheely]

Thank you for the compliment. The heater you can see is a Olympian Wave 8 Catalytic Safety Heater made by Camco. You can get them from Camping World:

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/product/olympian-wave-catalytic-safety-heaters/1630

and dozens of other places.

Some people don't like catalytic heaters, considering them unsafe, but I am very fond of them as an alternative to both forced air propane furnaces and the expensive (and sometimes finicky) diesel furnaces. I've never had a problem providing the small amount of ventilation required and am very fond of their silent operation.

The Wave 8 is bigger than ideal for the size of my van, but at the time, the Wave 8 had a thermostat, whereas the smaller ones didn't. The thermostat didn't work all that well and it looks to have been removed in the current models. The heater is also not positioned ideally for a radiant heater, but it's in the space that was available. Running the low-speed/fan-only setting on the air conditioner for a few minutes helps circulate the warm air.

I have two other heaters. There is a forced air convection heater mounted into the cabinet over the stove that is ideal for when you have shore power, and there's an auxiliary engine mounted diesel heater that works with a heat exchanger to provide modest amounts of heat, However, that furnace is pretty noisy outside of the vehicle, so it's use is limited.

Mike, I bought a catalytic heater for my camper build but have not installed or used it yet. I read about catalyst poisoning from dust. Have you ever experienced this? Is it something to be concerned about?

 

[mhiscox]

Mike, I bought a catalytic heater for my camper build but have not installed or used it yet. I read about catalyst poisoning from dust. Have you ever experienced this? Is it something to be concerned about?

It is a real thing, but it is one of those things that takes a while and may or may not ever be a problem in the life of your unit. It seemed to me on my Wave heaters that the relatively cheap dust cover they sell (or you could easily fashion your own) was worth the money, but there's no way that I'd know whether it did any good.

 

[xjackstarrx]

I am new to the site and came across your van build, which is very well thought out and beautiful by the way, and I am very interested in putting together a similar floor style in my van.

My first question is how did you layer your floor, and did you remove the original floor or place yours over it?

I have been thinking over my design and I plan to remove the original flooring, put down a layer of CDL such as RAAMmat, then cover with closed cell foam, a layer of MLV such as EZ Cool, and a layer of reflectix as a vapor barrier on top of that. From there I am not sure the route to put down the Teak….

My next question, as I am very interested in a similar shower design, is how do you prevent water from getting under the Teak flooring where it meets the shower pan? And do you have any other pictures of your shower pan without the slats in?